Since opening in 1981, the Toronto Sculpture Garden (TSG) commissioned temporary artworks by more than 80 artists in a small City of Toronto park opposite St. James Cathedral on King Street East. Until 2014, it was operated as a partnership between the City of Toronto and the Louis L. Odette Family, benefactors who created the non-profit L.L.O. Sculpture Garden Foundation which funded and administered the exhibitions. Under the direction of Rina Greer, the TSG allowed artists to explore issues of scale and materials, as well as engage with the local community and visitors to the neighbourhood. For some, the expansion of their practice beyond the studio led to major public artworks elsewhere.
The TSG is now managed by the City of Toronto and acts as a stepping stone between studio work and public art, providing artists with the opportunity to work experimentally in public space. Exhibitions change twice per year, typically in the spring and fall.
April 16 to October 12
This installation draws upon the familiar “bead roller coaster” toy to explore the intersection of calm and movement within our lives. For many, this toy evokes a sense of nostalgia as a staple in the waiting rooms of doctors’ and dentists’ offices over the past several decades. By drawing on memories of waiting rooms and the sense of motion that this toy suggests, the sculpture is a reinterpretation on a larger scale that becomes a metaphor for life’s complex rhythms. It is a place where the competing forces of waiting and constant movement can coexist and be experienced together. This sculpture is meant to challenge the viewer to question whether they are in a moment of stillness or movement, or if it can be both. It asks us to hold onto dualities: could this moment have both joy and hardship? Both hope and worry? The intention of the installation is to leave the viewer with a renewed sense of appreciation for the beauty of life’s twists and turns, the quiet power of connection and the joy of experiencing the present with the curiosity of a child.
Chloe Begg is based in Toronto/Tkaronto. Taking inspiration from local surroundings and the detail of life that surround us all, Begg integrates industrial and urban forms into sculptures that evoke beauty and wonder. Primarily working and exhibiting in ceramics, Begg explores shapes, layers, and depth through wall hangings and sculptural forms. Begg attended the Haliburton School of Art and Design in 2022 and the Banff Centre for Arts as an emerging artist in residence in 2024. Begg has participated in numerous mentorship programs and received grants from the Canada Council of the Arts, TOLive and FUSION Clay and Glass Association to support further development as an emerging artist. Begg has exhibited through DesignTO, The Artist Project and several galleries across Ontario.
The TSG is located at 115 King Street East, just east of Church Street, directly across the street from St. James Cathedral and between two of the oldest buildings in the city, dating from the 1840s.
The park is approximately 80′ by 100′ (25m x 30m). With its proximity to King Street to the north and the St. Lawrence market neighbourhood to the south, the park serves a wide variety of users, from those who live and work in the area to visitors to the neighbourhood and the City, people of all ages, those seeking out art and those coming across it by accident.
9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily