Developers, Toronto artists partner to build creative hubs

Two developers are taking empty lots, and sites awaiting development approvals, and transforming them into vibrant canvases for local artists. The goal is turning otherwise vacant land into cultural hotspots.

At the former Bombardier hangar at Downsview Airport, artist Jacquie Comrie is creating one of Toronto's largest murals. 

"Colour is the centre and the focus of my life and everything I make," Comrie told CBC Toronto. "Colour has been proven to help with our overall wellness."

The 370-acre development will become an entirely new community, said Alana Mercury, director of programming and placemaking at Northcrest Developments, including housing, schools and libraries. The development is slated to take 30 years to complete.

"In the meanwhile we're creating a space for people to gather, to experience events and for artists to offer their own insights into what they want this space to be," Mercury said. "We're really trying to create a community and a place in advance of the development."

Comrie says the opportunity gives creators like herself a chance to make an impact through their work.

"These projects, working in the public realm, I don't take it lightly." she said. "It's not just about creating a mural, but creating an experience of healing."

Downtown site highlights Black artists

At 355 Adelaide St. W, the future site of downtown housing, Fengate Asset Management has partnered with LiUNA and the Black Artists' Network in Dialogue to create BAND Offsite, transforming a former glass box sales centre downtown.

This space now hosts Leone McComas's interactive light piece, Everything will fade, these three remain. Other works are scheduled for later this year.  McComas says her installation pays homage to the Entertainment District's history as a hub of nightclubs and reflects her own experience in Toronto's changing nightlife eras.

"It was funny to think back on those days and think about the things that drew me.  A lot of it was community and finding people with similar interests," she said, adding the piece was also inspired by a passage in the Bible that discusses the idea of eternal love.

"The most important thing in everything we do is the love that drives it, and I'd like for that to be the centre of this piece," she said.

Fengate Asset Management bought the property back in 2022, said Jaime McKenna, president of real estate at Fengate.

"Our intention is to redevelop this to deliver much needed housing downtown, but in the meantime, because planning takes a long time, the site often sits quiet," McKenna said. "We thought why not partner with local artists and beautify the site? The feedback from the community has been off the charts positive."

City, arts council hope to see more partnerships

In a statement, the City of Toronto said it recognizes that a lack of affordable, sustainable space to live and work is one of the top issues facing Toronto's artists and cultural organizations.

"Offering temporary or 'meanwhile' use of otherwise vacant or underutilized land is one strategy to provide affordable space for arts projects and exhibitions. These short-term activations provide opportunities to animate larger development sites, such as Downsview, Villiers Island and the Portlands, and help to build and connect community in these spaces prior to and during development," the statement said.

While temporary uses do not solve long-term cultural space needs, the city said these short-term activations can help artists, creatives, cultural organizations and others have access to space to test out ideas, develop and grow.

 At a time when artists and arts organizations across Toronto face serious affordability challenges, Toronto Arts Council and Foundation director and CEO Kelly Langgard says this kind of creativity on the part of developers is welcome and should be celebrated.

"Toronto Arts Council and Foundation firmly believe in the importance of cultural spaces for artists in Toronto, and in the power of partnerships that serve to animate all corners of our city," Laggard said.

She says that it's crucial there continues to be space made for community arts – through private investments, public funding and creative partnerships.

For McComas, the chance to have her work in such a high traffic area is a huge opportunity. She hopes to see more partnerships.

"These relationships between developers and artists, there's so much opportunity for collaboration. I think the results can be very interesting," she said.