Winter Stations

Believe it or not, it is still winter. And last Friday Peter and I decided to explore one of Toronto’s fun winter venues. The Beach.

Ten years ago 3 Toronto design companies got together and decided it would be fun to find a winter use for the 6 life guard stations along Woodbine and Kew beaches. They offered the opportunity to the international arts community. There were a few rules: The design had to incorporate a life guard station but not be permanently affixed to it. The creator should assume there would be minimal security, and the possibility of damage from either weather or visitors. The use of fire or electricity (or swimming) would be prohibited.

In the first year, 2015, there were 200 submissions. Ten years later, 2024, there were over 400. This year’s theme is “resonance,” inviting the participants to use a design which resonates with winners from previous years. Kind of like plagiarism. The 6 winning designs are located near, or on, the life guard stations. Three other designs were chosen as runners-up and are installed along Queen St, creating a connection between the free beach displays and the local restaurants, ie No Free Lunch.

Some of the stations are built with children in mind. Making Waves, at the corner of Queen St and Kingston Road, has cranks for kids to turn, creating wave-like motions along the platform near the shore. Bobbin’ has a children’s teeter totter inside. We Caught a UFO! invites tiny tots to climb up to the top inside the UFO. Adhering to my philosophy of “live life to the fullest” I wanted to play on all 3 stations, but Peter said we had to keep going or we would be late for lunch. You can tell our priorities are different.

Two of the installations are meant to advertise climate change. Nova is a series of white tarps slung over the life guard station, with an opening at the top where the stars apparently shine through at night. The station is highly visible standing in the sand, kind of like somebody wearing a dress that is too short. Nimbus stands out, even from a distance. Blue ropes representing rain hang from bubbly white clouds. The viewer is asked to think about rain and what its absence means to the world. Peter and I were more inclined to think about the absence of snow.

One of the stations is a photographer’s dream. A human-sized Kaleidoscope challenges our perspectives through mirrors reflecting other mirrors and the lake. There’s a space between the 2 halves of the bright orange structure, where visitors feel like they have become part of the sculpture.

If you leave the beach and meander along Queen St. you’ll discover lots of quaint restaurants and bars to stop for a lunch break. You will also find 2 more enchanting sculptures. Delighthouse is a colourful and eye-catching lighthouse tower. And farther along you’ll run across a Toronto icon created from differently-textured plastics. Conrad, returning from 2023, is one BIG racoon!

During our very unusual February day, we wandered in the sand, we had a satisfying lunch in a tiny restaurant, and we walked about 15,000 steps. At the far end of the beach, near the RC Harris filtration plant, there was one final inviting scene – streetcars! We climbed aboard, and settled in for a nap on our way home.

Sue