You don’t have to be an art history student, native Torontonian or even know anything about Canadian culture to qualify for Mark Cheetham’s Public Art in Toronto course. But you do have to be a first-year student willing to get up close and personal with some of the city’s public works of art.
The course is a great welcome to the city’s art and its impact, whether you’ve lived here all your life or just arrived.
“There is an amazing amount of public art here that is important to the civic life of Toronto,” said Cheetham. “The course is a way to link examples in Toronto that the students could see and work with to global issues because public art is not unique to any particular city.”
The course eases students into university life, too. Cheetham starts off the semester by taking the class — about 20 students — on a walking tour, starting at the Eaton Centre and ending at the Convention Centre. The course also features lectures and presentations by students on their favourite public art in Toronto, which must take place in front of the actual art.
“Standing in front of the piece of work you’re discussing is the single best thing,” Cheetham said. “If you’re studying visual culture, you need to understand in full context what you’re looking at.”
Cheetham is particularly excited that students who take the class often come from life sciences and math.
“Most of them weren’t born interested in this but everyone ends up interested in it, plus they get to know their city,” he said.
Check out some of the public art that Cheetham and students visit during their first class.
The first stop is Michael Snow’s ‘Flightstop’ at the Eaton Centre, known for a 1981 court case in which Snow successfully argued to remove red ribbons that had been wrapped around the geese’s necks for Christmas. Snow’s lawyers argued that the ribbons offended the integrity of and distorted his work. “Artist moral rights to not have their work tampered with were established internationally because of that case,” said Cheetham. “There’s a lot to talk about, so we always start there.” (Photo: Adrian Berg, CC BY-NC 2.0)Ken Lum’s ‘Across Time and Space, Two Children of Toronto Meet’ are sculptures of two immigrant children from the earlier part of the 20th century, representing questions of immigration. The piece is tucked in an alley near Bay and Dundas. “It’s a large piece which people walk by every day and don’t even notice,” said first-year St. Michael’s College student Greg Ng. “It just shows how things can be so large and yet unnoticed, but when you do notice, it makes you see things differently.” (Photo: Shawn Micallef.)James Turrell’s ‘Straight Flush’ light installation at the Bay and Adelaide Centre is notable for its connection to popular culture. “The television show Suits is filmed in this building, so this piece of work is seen by a large viewing audience,” said Cheetham. “Yet a lot of people don’t know about this piece. The fact that it’s here in Toronto is great.” (Photo: Ian Muttoo. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)From the Financial District, the class walks down to Front Street. Dai Skuse and Kim Kozzi (aka Fastwürms) constructed the woodpecker column at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. By the time they arrive, the tour is almost over. “It takes a lot of time, but I get to know the students a bit better and I like to think they get to know each other better too,” said Cheetham. (Photo: Kim. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.)Cheetham likes to end the course near a transit stop, so one option is Untilted by Anish Kapoor at Simcoe Park, near Union Station and the CBC complex. The tours are likely to vary as the city evolves. “Public art in Toronto is changing very quickly,” he said. “There are old monuments and new monuments. Art is also arising from city initiatives such as The Percent for Public Art Program, which recommends that a minimum of one percent of the construction cost of each significant development be contributed to public art. (Photo: Howard Stanbury. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)When students get to choose a piece of work to present, they teach each other. Ng presented the Homeless Jesus sculpture by Timothy P. Schmalz, located outside of Regis College on St. George Street. First-year life science student Katherine Pullella said she was struck deeply by this piece. “I was most impacted by its simplicity,” she said. “If one were to just walk by Regis College, it would be missed. It’s realistic in shape but lifeless to the touch, which reminds those who see it that we have become so used to poverty and homelessness we rarely are phased by it anymore. It was humbling.” (Photo: Kat N.L.M. CC BY-NC 2.0.)
