In 2022-23, The Bentway celebrated the experiences of newcomers encountering Toronto’s cold season for the first time. Featured First Winter programming included a glowing new art installation, Beacons, by Shellie Zhang; performance; music; storytelling; and community care initiatives – drawing in over 57,000 attendees.
Every newcomer remembers their first Toronto winter – watching streetcars make their way through snow-lined streets, finding their local neighborhood skating rink, or discovering local winter pastimes that help us embrace this cold season.
The Bentway invited Toronto artist Shellie Zhang to create an installation for our iconic Skate Trail, connecting her artistic practice and lived experience to the larger conversation among the diasporic communities throughout the city. Zhang’s installation Beacons reflects on the interwoven layers of identity, the role of community, and the power of memory and nostalgia rooted within their First Winter.
Alongside Beacons, the season featured a series of public programs including creative workshops, performances, and recreational activities to bring newcomers and long-time residents together to celebrate the moments of light and connection that have come to uniquely define a Toronto winter season.
As Toronto continues to welcome many newcomers to the city every year, we asked our communities to reflect on the moments of connection that helped shape their first season. What spaces or activities brought you joy, or warmth? During these long and dark months, where did you find light? How does this First Winter experience differ for each of us, and how can public space be a site for coming together and celebrating these experiences across multiple communities?
Partners on this program included:
- Department of Imaginary Affairs
- New Circles
- Newcomer Kitchen
- Small World Music
- Talking Treaties Collective
- Fort York National Historic Site
in this program
press highlights
“First winters in Canada can be a shock. How one program is helping newcomers find warmth in the ‘Canadian cold.’”
The Toronto Star (Nicholas Keung, Immigration Reporter)
“Here and Now’s Haydn Watters meets first time skaters learning to skate under the Gardiner Expressway.”
CBC’s Here & Now (with Haydn Watters)
“Loneliness in the city”
TVO’s The Thread (with Nam Kiwanuka)
supporters
Presenting Partners: Hilary & Galen Weston Foundation, Government of Canada, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.
Supporters: Government of Ontario, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, City of Toronto, TD Bank, Canadian Tire, Scotiabank, Best Buy Canada, CityPlace Fort York BIA, Jane Zeidler & Kate Zeidler Mackenzie.