Art Metropole

25 Apr. 2026

Public Art as Relational Practice

A conversation with Sandra Brewster, Kari Cwynar, Charlene K. Lau, and Tannis Nielsen

Time

2:00–5:00PM

Co-presented by Art Metropole and Evergreen, in association with the recent release of Temporary Acts: Public Art in Toronto’s Don River Valley.

Art Metropole is pleased to host a conversation with artists Sandra Brewster and Tannis Nielsen, in dialogue with curators Kari Cwynar and Charlene K. Lau, to celebrate the recent release of Temporary Acts, an anthology documenting Evergreen’s public art program in the Don River Valley. In this discussion, the panelists will reflect on the artists’ recent projects in public space, the evolution of Evergreen’s program in the Don Valley, and methodologies for public art as living, responsive and relational practice.

Temporary Acts: Public Art in Toronto’s Don River Valley documents the non-profit Evergreen’s public art program in Toronto’s Lower Don River Valley from 2017 through 2024. Twenty-five art and research projects commissioned and presented by Evergreen are reproduced alongside new essays, interviews, roundtable discussions, and process images. Together the publication coheres current discussions on temporary, sustainable, collaborative and site-responsive public art, and explores the role of artists in deepening our engagement with complex landscapes like the Don River. Featured artists include Maria Hassabi, Will Kwan, Nadia Belerique, Maria Thereza Alves, Rita Letendre, Tannis Nielsen, Logan MacDonald, Joar Nango and Ken Are Bongo, Sandra Brewster, Sarah Davidson, and Ogimaa Mikana, among many others. With essays by David Garneau, Charlene K. Lau, Alexis Nanibush-Pamajewong, Aylan Couchie, Jacqueline L. Scott and Chris Mendoza. Roundtable and interview participants include Candice Hopkins, Dylan Robinson, Bonnie Devine, Wanda Nanibush, Susan Blight, Tannis Nielsen, Ryan Rice and more.

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Based in Toronto, Sandra Brewster works in drawing, video, photo-based works, and installation. Her themes focus on identity and representation, and movement in the depiction of gesture resulting in a re-presentation of the portrait. During Sandra Brewster’s residency Roots at Evergreen Brick Works, she invited friends – paired with Dr. Jacqueline Scott of Black Outdoors – to engage with her project through walks along the grounds and thoughtful discussions examining our relationship to land and history. The studio work produced during the residency resulted in photo-based transfers on wood depicting the surrounding vegetation. The surfaces appear worn and weathered – archival in quality. Roots responds to Brewster’s broader practice, which is grounded in the experiences of people of the Caribbean diaspora, who maintain a relationship with back home. It reflects a multi-layered sense of identity, expressed as a collision between time and place.

Kari Cwynar is an independent curator and editor based in Montreal. Recently held positions include Lecturer in Curatorial Studies at the University of Toronto, Curator for Nuit Blanche Toronto 2023, Curator of Evergreen’s public art program in Toronto’s Don Valley and Editor/Editorial Director of C Magazine. Since 2014, Kari has been co-director of Kunstverein Toronto, a nomadic curatorial and publishing platform and sister institution to the Kunstvereins in Amsterdam, Milan and Aughrim. She is currently completing a PhD in Screen Cultures and Curatorial Studies at Queen’s University.

Charlene K. Lau is an art historian, critic, and Curator of Public Art at Evergreen Brick Works and Nuit Blanche Toronto 2025. She has held fellowships at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; Parsons School of Design, The New School; and Performa Biennial. Charlene has also held teaching positions at Parsons School of Design, OCAD University, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Toronto Scarborough, Western University and York University. Her writing has been published in Art in Americ a, Artforum, TheAtlantic.com, The Brooklyn Rail, C Magazine, Canadian Art, frieze, Critical Studies in Fashion & Beauty, Fashion Theory and Journal of Curatorial Studies, among others. www.charleneklau.com

Tannis Nielsen is a Danish, Anishnawbe-Red River Métis woman whose maternal grandparents Catherine Boucher and Joseph Monkman were born in the Méetis settlements of St. Louis and Halcro district, Saskatchewan. Her Mother mother Jenny, aka /Merle Monkman, was born in Goldfields, Saskatchewan; and her Father father Paul Nielsen, in Aalborg, Denmark. Tannis was born in Red Deer, Alberta and has lived in t’koronto for more than 35 years, though she still calls herself a prairie girl. Tannis has over 25 years of professional experience in the arts, cultural, and community sectors, and 15 years teaching at the post-secondary level. As a visual artist, Tannis’ practice includes public art, drawing, painting, new media installation, sculpture, and performance. In 2021, Tannis completed a reproduction of Rita Letendre’s 1971 mural Sunrise at Evergreen Brick Works alongside a mural of her own, Ishkode, conceived in response to Letendre’s work and legacy.

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