What to know
- The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair returns to Nathan Phillips Square this weekend for its 65th edition, bringing together more than 400 visual artists and an estimated 170,000 visitors.
- Toronto ceramic artist Jes Young is returning with a new collection featuring pigeons building nests from discarded street trash, using urban waste to explore themes of resilience, belonging and housing insecurity.
- Young says their work is inspired by personal experiences with renoviction and feeling unwelcome in Toronto, drawing parallels between their own journey and the city’s often-overlooked pigeons and discarded objects.
- Beyond their artwork, Young founded Kitte Club, a Toronto ceramics studio that offers affordable classes, mentorship and accessible creative programming to support emerging artists.
- This year’s festival theme, The Elegance of Longevity, celebrates the enduring impact of art, the resilience of artists and the value of fostering community through in-person creative experiences.
The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (TOAF) is happening this Friday, colouring Nathan Phillips Square with some of the city’s most remarkable local artists, including one sculptor who creates art out of street junk and pests.
The artistic festival is transforming the city’s civic centre into a lively art hub by bringing together 400 visual artists and 170,000 visitors to the square to explore, present and discuss art. The event is taking over the square this Friday, July 10 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Artist features collection based on urban junk
Returning to the festival’s milestone edition of this year is west-end artist Jes Young, who went viral last year for their ceramic pieces that feature everyday urban pests and junk, including realistic representations of pigeons and disposable foodware.
This Friday, Young is bringing back an extension of the collection, which they said will include pigeons making nests and homes out of trash. Although the theme might feel peculiar or casual, it hides a deeper meaning, according to the artist.
Having moved to Toronto from Ottawa for university, Young said they often felt unwelcomed into the city, from the lack of accessible spaces to issues finding housing. Featuring pigeons, trash, and other pests into their artwork, has become a way of showing resilience in the face of rejection and hardship.
“I’ve never really felt welcomed into the space. I’ve been renovicted before, even in my current apartment, there’s landlords who have always tried to kick me and my partner out of our space…I’ve constantly just felt like a bit of a pest and an intruder,” they explained.
“I found a kinship to pigeons and trash and lots of other symbols of resilience for standing up for something and doing the best with what you’ve got on hand and trying to make the best of situations.”
In contrast to their work being centered around feeling unwelcomed, Young said the TOAF is a space where they felt welcomed with open arms, and they expect this year to be no different.
The artist said they hope festival goers enjoy themselves and start conversations through their work.
“One of my favourite things is when people share stories, whether it’s related to pigeons or trash. I feel like everybody in this city, and beyond Toronto as well, has a story where they’ve connected with a piece of trash in some way, shape, or form, or a pigeon in some way,” Young said.
Kitte Club
Young is also the founder of Kitte Club, a ceramics studio in Toronto that supports artists in their practices. The studio invites diverse artists from all walks of life to experiment and create, and offers mentorships and instruction, as well as programming and interactive activities.
The idea for the studio was inspired in Young’s personal experience, after they had a hard time funding a space to create their ceramic pieces in the city during the pandemic. Two years later, when the owner of a private studio they used decided to take a step back from it, Young invested all their resources in taking over the space and transforming it.
“My main goal is to create a studio space for artists in the city to really explore and experiment and to support those in their practices, no matter how weird and how difficult, whether it being technical or conceptual, to try to help them bring it to life,” they said.
Now, the artist focuses on building accessible programming and memberships so that more people in the city can create.
“I do a lot of mold making classes, sculpture classes, some fun project-based classes, and we even do fun events like movie nights, where you can bring some snacks and some drinks, watch a movie and make a little sculpture for $25,” they said.
Festival features hundreds of artists
This is the 65th edition of the festival, which was originally established in 1961 as a registered charity dedicated to connecting visual artists and the public, supporting art pieces and conversations that inspire and bring the community together.
This special edition of the TOAF is themed The Elegance of Longevity, and aims to reflect the long-lasting power of art, the resilience of artists, and the importance of in-person connections.
Young is only one of the inspiring local artists featured in this year’s edition, which is bringing over 400 creatives to the square.
For more information on the festival, visit its website.
