The Beaches’ Winter Stations design competition is back
Would-be winners can submit their ideas until November 3
Each year, artists, designers and architects come together for the Winter Stations design competition to save the Beaches from the dreariness of Toronto’s coldest season. The challenge asks participants to transform vacant lifeguard stations at Woodbine and Kew Beaches into whimsical displays.
This year’s theme, Mirage, explores the nature of reality in the age of AI, considering how art can draw people’s attention away from their devices and back to a shared human experience.
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“We’re all being inundated with more false images online than ever before,” said Katarina Prystay, one of the event organizers, in a statement. “Public art is an incredibly powerful and playful medium to make reflections, conversations and connections with others.”
The competition has been held annually since 2015 by architecture firm Raw Design and communications studio KG&A. It attracts “thousands of visitors, bringing creativity, community, and colour” to the Beaches, according to its website. And why not? Toronto is a winter city, even though Torontonians don’t like to admit it.
“We put so much effort into making cities lively in summer when it’s really in winter that people need it most,” says Philippe Demers, CEO of art production company MassivArt. “Winter Stations transforms the waterfront into a destination even when the weather tries to push us away.”
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The competition is open until November 3 and free for all to join. It’s judged anonymously by a panel made up of the city’s most prominent voices in art, design, architecture and urbanism. Winning artists will receive a $2,000 honorarium.
Public art initiatives like these go beyond making a space pretty—they can also raise property values and attract real estate development and investment, according to a study by the Urban Land Institute. “When people feel good about a place, they stay longer, they come back, they spend more,” says Demers. “And then they share their experiences with other people.”
