Art in Public Places is the City of Kingston’s Temporary Public Art Program stream that connects the work of contemporary artists with residents and visitors across Kingston. Annually, the City commissions and exhibits works of temporary public art – including street art – to promote diverse cultural expression in a variety of mediums in civic spaces, places and neighbourhoods. This work does not become part of the Civic Collection.

Sign up for the City’s Public Art newsletter to be notified of upcoming calls for artist proposals.

On this page:

• Crosswalk Mural Pilot Project
• Water Snake
• YGK Street Art Wall
• Paved Paradise
• Public Art at the INVISTA Centre
• Storefront Public Art
• The Woman in White

Crosswalk Mural Pilot Project

In  summer 2023, the City partnered with the Skeleton Park Arts Festival (SPAF) on the Crosswalk Mural Pilot Project to work with local artists and residents to design and paint a series of three ground murals that transform parts of the roadway into works of art, helping to improve pedestrian safety, incorporate public art into everyday life, and support community-based placemaking.  

The pilot project is currently in review to assess the feasibility of a program to be established in 2024 to allow community groups and associations, businesses, organizations and residents that wish to come together to create a crosswalk mural in their neighbourhood.   

Crosswalk #1: Alma Street and Ordnance Street  
Artists: Jaylene Cardinal and Dakota Ward   
Artists’ Bios: Dakota Ward and Jaylene Cardinal are Cree artists who moved to Kingston from Edmonton in 2014. They are very expressive in their ideas and beliefs, which plays a big role in who they are as creatives. The couple are not afraid to challenge the status quo and believe that art can help the world become not only a more understanding and considerate world but a prettier and happier place to live. Dakota and Jaylene use their art to express emotions and communicate ideas to pass from one generation to another. As entrepreneurs they are driven by community and the desire to build a brand and reputation as top Indigenous artists with their business W.C. Creatives. W.C. Creatives offers original and one-of-a-kind pieces with a modern twist on Native jewelry, crafts, fashion and art. Jaylene and Dakota can also be found sharing their talents at their painting workshops and art classes.   

Crosswalk #2: Alma Street and Balaclava Street 
Artist: Floriana Ehninger Cuervo 
Installation: June 23-25 
Artist Bio: Floriana Ehninger-Cuervo is a freelance creative who moved to Kingston (and into the Skeleton Park neighbourhood) thirteen years ago to pursue a BFA, and never left. School revealed that she was not made for galleries, but that she enjoys sneaking art and thoughtful design into everyday spaces. Along with oering illustration, lettering, and sign painting services, Flo has happily gotten increasingly involved in creating public art installations, such as this one.

Crosswalk #3: Balaclava Street and Redan Street  
Artists: Marney McDiarmid and Vince Perez  
Artists’ Bios: Marney McDiarmid is a queer ceramic artist, illustrator, and surface pattern designer. She uses beauty as a tool for engagement, creating lush, exuberant work that call up notions of replenishment and explore our relationships to the natural world. She has a passion for connecting people to their creativity, to colour, to nature, and to each other. Vincent Pérez is a designer, letterpress printer and artist living in Katarokwi/Kingston. He is dedicated to art as public practice, design as collaborative process and printing in the analog tradition.  

Artists Statement: Residents of the Redan Street neighbourhood chose the theme of "play" for this mural and proposed a variety of items to arrange within a design that functions as a giant “I Spy.” Some of these items are very evident – a hockey stick, a double bass, a basketball – while others offer a subtle nod to events and people that make up the fabric of the street. How many can you find? 
 
Scattered throughout the mural are letters from the Anishinaabemowin and Mohawk words for underground river. Rumour has it that underground rivers are part of the hidden geography of the area and, if you follow the crosswalk down to the bottom of Bay Street, you'll end up at the Cataraqui River.  
 
Kim Debassige of the Kingston Indigenous Language Nest and Alison Benedict aided in finding indigenous words that describe an underground river. They spoke with traditional knowledge keepers who offered the Anishinaabemowin word “Naamjiwan” and the Mohawk words “Ohwentsakonshon iotnhekahtetionhatie“ to express this concept. By scrambling the letters in these words and distributing them throughout the design, the mural alludes to the complexities and challenges involved in Indigenous language revitalization. 

Water Snake

The City of Kingston, in partnership with Tourism Kingston, has recently unveiled a unique and public installation designed by local architecture firm, RAW Design Inc. (RAW). Titled Water Snake, this is a playful, interactive installation designed to delight and engage residents and visitors along Kingston’s waterfront. Water Snake is nestled along the pathway between the Delta Hotel and Battery Park and is an experiment in animating an underdeveloped space in a semi-permanent way through a combination of design and technology, involving innovative and sustainable 3D printing done by local company, Nidus3D.

The installation features three distinct sculptural segments that offer seating and that also encourage play and interaction. It is meant to help create a sense of place and to propose new ways of thinking about public spaces and how we use them. The installation is animated by a ground mural artwork created by local artist, Jenny Moring.  

This project is supported by funding from the Canada Community Revitalization Fund.  

YGK Street Art Wall

Participants are encouraged to document their artwork and share on social media platforms using the hashtag #YGKStreetArtWall.

Guidelines

The Guidelines for the Street Art Wall include rules of participation, information about acceptable content, paints and painting and processes to ensure the proper disposal of paints.

Questions?

If your question is answered in the frequently asked questions document, get in touch with the City at publicart@cityofkingston.ca. Sign up to receive the City's Public Art E-Newsletter to be notified of public art news, events, and calls for artist submissions.

Paved Paradise

Paved Paradise, a series of billboards for public art located in the heart of downtown Kingston, was first established in 2018 when a motion from Council came forward to staff to improve the aesthetic experience of the City’s recently acquired parking lot, located at the intersection of Ontario Street and Brock Street. The intention was to beautify the downtown core in line with the City’s Public Art Master Plan which speaks to animating public space through artistic endeavors. Every year since then, Paved Paradise has supported local artists through open calls and public art exhibitions opportunities.  

2023 marks the sixth year for Paved Paradise, and based on ongoing feedback from artists, jury members, and members of the Art in Public Places Working Group, the City is reviewing and re-imagining the platform to better function as an entry-point to public art practice for local artists. This will likely include extending the project and exhibition timelines and leveraging the platform to showcase works from multiple artists that are curatorially connected. Changes to Paved Paradise will be announced in Spring 2023.  

Sign up for the City’s Arts & Culture Services e-newsletter to receive updates on Paved Paradise and other public art opportunities for local artists. Make sure to stop by Brock and Ontario Street to view the current exhibit, Liminal Square by Lee and Bree!

Current Exhibit: Liminal Square by Lee and Bree

This is the first artistic collaboration between Lee Stewart and Bree Rappaport. Both are Kingston based artists.

Lee Stewart was born and raised in Kashechewan, a small remote reserve on James Bay in northern Ontario. He spent years in the Rideau Lakes region, and studied film and art history at Carleton University in Ottawa. He then lived in Vancouver before returning to establish himself in Kingston.  Stewart’s cultural influences are as vast as his lived experience, without hierarchy or elevated status. As a self-taught artist, Stewart’s experimentation, innate curiosity, and openness continue to shape his evolving style.

Bree Rappaport holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design University. While in school, she pursued projects around social and environmental justice, community economic development, and art as an educational tool for the needs of marginalized people. She lives and works in Kingston, dividing her time between teaching art-based classes at Leahurst College and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Rappaport maintains an art practice as a member of Dead On Arts Collective and 12 Cat Arts Collective. 

As an artist, Rappaport hopes to empower people, to be bold and brave when faced with fear or uncertainty. Art is a question, an action, a way “to make sense of things”. Her practice is driven through constant inquiry on quotidian aspects of life and human nature. Subject matter such as landscapes and autonomous human figures are common themes in her work. Painting, drawing and projection are the main tools in her wheelhouse of creation. Rappaport thinks of her viewer as “everyone” in or out of her art community, aiming to make accessible work that speaks to people from all walks of life.

Collaborative Statement

Collaboration is like a dance. Communicating back and forth, avoiding missteps and asking for forgiveness when stepping out of line or on any toes. This project was created, in collaboration between Lee Stewart and Bree Rappaport. This is the first project of this nature for both artists. Lee and Bree have known each other for five years, meeting through Dead On cCollective. Lee and Bree are close to opposites as artist and people, but through collaboration, their styles come together harmoniously.

Artist Statement

The square is in a constant state of flux, moving from one space to another, one idea to another, and sometimes these ideas overlap.

We know that art is subjective to each viewer and hope this work will encourage viewers to bring their own history and narrative to this work. How do they see themselves in Kingston’s historical narrative?

We would like this piece to uplift people to dream about the new prospective possibilities in our town. Our making process is in constant flux. As the idea of liminal, thinking about time is not as lineal. Everything is months ahead. Occupying space.

Past Exhibits

2021 - Inside - Floriana Ehninger-Cuervo

Floriana Ehninger-Cuervo is a Kingston-based illustrator and lettering artist. She runs Colourful Crow Studio where she creates cards, prints, and interactive papercraft.

2020 - Some of the Many Birds of Kingston - Chantal Rousseau

Chantal Rousseau has been a practicing artist for more than 20 years. Her work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally, including Hallwalls Institute of Contemporary Art, Buffalo; Widget Art Gallery; The Wrong – New Digital Art Biennale; Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris; The New Gallery, Calgary; Latitude 53, Edmonton; Mercer Union, Toronto; and La Centrale, Montreal.

2019 - Tomorrow’s Geology Today - Noah Scheinman and Adam Biehler

Noah Scheinman is an artist, designer, and writer based in Kingston whose practice explores the intersecting histories of environment, technology, and culture. His work combines a background in architecture and urban design with an emergent language of sculpture, installation, collage, photography, and video. Adam Biehler is a Kingston-based photographer/videographer whose personal work focuses on the relationship between humans and their environments. His works aim to illustrate both the impact of humans on their environments and the impact of an environment on human activity.

2018 - Series of seven photographic works - Tara Cameron, Anna Soper, Carolina Rojas, Frank Carone, Iris Van Loon, and Maurice Gauvin

Read the 2018 artist's biographies.

Public Art at the INVISTA Centre

The INVISTA Centre is a City-owned, fully accessible, multi-purpose fitness and community centre located in Kingston’s west end at 1350 Gardiners Rd. Public art at the INVISTA Centre is a public art opportunity for Kingston-based emerging artists only. This project also aims to bring public art to the west end of Kingston and to animate the facility.

In 2018, the City of Kingston issued a public call for submissions to Kingston-based artists to create public art for the atrium of the INVISTA Centre. Artists were invited to submit a proposal for a large-scale mural, in place for up to 5 years, or pillar wraps, that would be in place for up to one year. The pillars are at ground level and are accessible to all users who pass through the INVISTA Center.

A Jury made up of members of the Public Art Working Group, through the Arts Advisory Committee, selected “Waterway” by Danielle Folkerts for the large-scale mural and “Portals Series” by Shannon Brown and “The Toy Camera Series” by Anna Soper for the six pillar wraps. The 2019 call asked that proposals consider that the centre serves a wide variety of community members from all backgrounds and of all ages. This commissioning process was facilitated by the City in keeping with the Public Art Policy as approved.

Read the 2019 artist biographies.

Storefront Public Art

The City's Public Art Program, in partnership with Tourism Kingston and Downtown Kingston! BIA presented a series of five public artworks in vacant storefronts created by local artists from April to June 2021 Thank you to CaraCo Group of Companies and Keystone Property Management for their generous donation of the spaces for this project.

The featured artists included:

• “Cultivate” by Marney McDiarmid
• “Arriving” by Aida Šulcs
• “Take My Hand” by Jennifer Demitor
• “Phony Bologna” by Dead On Collective including Kelsey Pearson, Bree Rappaport, and Eric Williams
• “Unsolicited Life Advice” by Floriana Ehninger-Cuerv

The Woman in White

“The Woman in White” by Roshanak Jaberi’s is an augmented reality photo exhibit at the Grand Theatre (218 Princess Street). This temporary public art installation located on the exterior of the performing arts venue in downtown Kingston is a companion piece to Jaberi Dance Theatre’s production of “No Woman’s Land”, scheduled to appear as part of the next Grand OnStage in-theatre season. “The Woman in White” exhibit draws upon the stories at the heart of “No Woman’s Land” revealing the depths of human resistance in the face of great adversity. . This exhibit is presented by Grand OnStage in partnership with the Art in Public Places program.

The City's Grand OnStage program offers a curated multidisciplinary series of national and international performing arts presentations at the Kingston Grand Theatre. In October 2020, the Grand OnStage program went virtual with customized streamed experiences for Kingston Grand Theatre patrons.