Posts Tagged ‘Woodbine Beach’

Winter Stations 2023

Posted: March 21, 2023 in events, public art
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Winter stations 2023, as in previous years, is a collection of art installations along the waterfront at Woodbine Beach.  I went for a walk along the beach one very blustery Saturday morning.  There weren’t many of us there and I think that I was the only one who wasn’t accompanied by a dog.

below: ‘Delighthouse’, designed by British pair Nick Green and Greig Pirrie.

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach, multicoloured wood lighthouse shaped structure

below: A shrine to the neighbourhoods of Toronto titled “The (Home)” designed by Canadian group, Scott Shields Architects

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach, plywood hut with cut out on the sides spelling out the names of Toronto neighbourhoods. Different colours of plastic covering the names,

a portion of the wall without coloured names of Toronto neighbourhoods such as High Park and Lakeview

below: “Ripple Hut” designed by students from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Department of Architectural Sciences.

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach, metal semi cylindrical structures with holes in them

below: Looking through one of the holes in “Ripple Hut” towards the curved yellow forms of “Surface Pavilion” which was designed by a Mexican team consisting of Cesar Guerrero, Ana Cecilia Garza, and Orlando Garcia .

looking through the holes of a metal art installation structure, beach

below: “Winternet”, just burlap between wood posts.   Designed, such as it is, by a team from University of Waterloo, Dept of Architecture.

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach, burlap wrapped around wood posts forming a few burlap fences of about 6 feet in height

coloured muskoka chairs on the beach, with burlap fence in the foreground

below: “Life Line” – design team: WeatherstonBruer Associates – James Bruer, Nick Roland, Jacqueline Hampshire

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach, long red tube leading to lifeguard station

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach, round red circle with words drop ball here painted on it

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach,

below: “Conrad” is a large raccoon designed by Novak Djogo and Daniel Joshua Vanderhorst; it is also a memorial to Conrad the real raccoon who died at the corner of Church and Yonge Streets in the summer of 2015.  Whether you love them, hate them, or are indifferent to them, raccoons are part of the Toronto scene.

winter stations installation at Woodbine Beach, large raccoon made of wood and semi-clear plastic

stones and flowers and a picture of a raccoon forming part of a memorial for Conrad the raccoon

_________________________

Some previous years’ installations:

2017 – Flotsam and Jetsam

Winter Stations 2019

Winter Stations 2020

On the waterfront – Winter Stations 2022

on the waterfront

Posted: February 25, 2022 in public art, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
2

a small pink knitted heart is tied to the branch of a small tree

Winter Stations 2022

a sign by path at beach that says don't feed the foxes

From late February through to the end of March is Winter Stations on Woodbine Beach along Toronto’s waterfront.

Toronto waterfront, by Ashbridge Bay, Lake Ontario, winter stations 2022, people and dogs on the beach with a few art installations

below: “The Hive” by Canadians, Kathleen Dogantzis & Will Cuthbert

Hive, at winter stations 2022,

looking through the coloured plexiglass panels of Hive, an art installation on Woodbine Beach

below: Designed by a team from Daniels Faculty of Architecture, U of T, “Introspection”.

Introspection, art installation at Woodbine Beach designed by University of Toronto John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design team of – Christopher Hardy, Tomasz Weinberger, Clement Sung, Jason Wu, Jacob Henriquez, Christopher Law, Anthony Mattacchione, George Wang, Maggie MacPhie & Zoey Chao, Lead by Assistant Professor – Teaching Stream Fiona Lim Tung

part of "Introspection" an art installation, red box on the waterfront with reflective insides

inside Introspection , reflecrive surface, art installation

below: Designed by a Turkish pair, Cemre Önertürk and Ege Çakır is “Enter-Face”.

two Muskoka chairs sit in the ice at Woodbine Beach, with art installation Enter-Face behind them

below: The structure on the left has circular openings on one side and a translucent panel on the other (lakeside) – you can through but the resulting view is slightly distorted. On the taller structure, there is a reflective material.

on Woodbine Beach, an art installation called Enter-Face by Turkish design team, MELT, Cemre Önertürk & Ege Çakır

view from outside of Enter Face, an art installation at winter stations

below: “S’winter Station” was designed by a team from Ryerson University’s Department of Architectural Science.  The circular openings on the surface panels were made from beach towels, an object more associated with summer than with winter.

a woman with blue paper? beside art installation designed by Evan Fernandes, Kelvin Hoang, Alexandra Winslow, Justin Lieberman & Ariel Weiss, Lead by Associate Professor Vincent Hui from Ryerson

a woman and a dog on the beach, under the overhang of an art installation, S'winter station,

below: “One Canada” by a team from School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph.  The “One” in the title is for the combining of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous together as one.  Seven rings representing wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth.  Orange (for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation) ropes weave the rings together in a pattern echoing those used to make drums.

on the waterfront, beach, with lake behind, an art installation.

part of One Canada installation at Winter Stations, close up of orange cords that form the frame, people and dogs and beach in the background. Design team: Alex Feenstra, Megan Haralovich, Zhengyang Hua, Noah Tran, Haley White & Connor Winrow, Lead by Assistant Professor Afshin Ashari and Associate Professor Sean Kelly

Saturday at the beach

Posted: September 29, 2020 in people, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

… even though it was the end of September!

below: Up, up, and away… not!  The woman in the middle doesn’t seem to interested.  Perhaps she’s too busy taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity to sun bathe on the beach one more time.

two men with large kites are trying to get themselves up in the air, a woman in a bathing suit lies on the sand between them.

two women and a girl paddling in a yellow boat, a sailboat is in the background

below: Walking past Leuty Lifeguard Station.

three couples on the boardwalk, one couple is walking their dog

below: He decided to stay and relax a little while people watching.

a man lies on the grass and watches people passing by on the boardwalk including a woman in a bathing suit and red shoes while talking on her phone, in front of Leuty Lifeguard station

a family sits together on the beach, the youngest is a baby in mother's lap. stroller is beside them, empty lifeguard station too

a man pulls a wagon with a child in it through the sand towards Lake Ontario leaving ruts where the wheels have passed

people walking on the boardwalk at Toronto waterfront, including four kids on their bikes, four aside, blocking traffic

a couple sit on low chairs in the sand at Woodbine Beach, others are in the water swimming or on paddle boards

a group of young people in bathing suits and summer clothing having a picnic at the beach, some under a striped umbrella and some standing and sitting around an large inflatable pink flamingo

young people playing volleyball on the beach in the sane

a couple sits near the water, their bikes are parked on the sand beside a large piece of driftwood

an old woman in a long purple and white skirt and a scarf over her head walks along the boardwalk with her walker

below: … and (almost) last, a wedding party in the park… finding ways to have celebrations in the summer of Covid-19.

a wedding party in the park, other people sitting in the park and looking out towards Lake Ontario

below:  That’s one way of getting to the beach!

new blue Mclaren sports car parked ina parking lot at Woodbine beach, beside a white car and in front of a TTC bus stop

Winter Stations 2020

Posted: February 28, 2020 in events, locations, public art, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
3

This is the 6th annual Winter Stations art installation event at Woodbine Beach.  It was officially opened on Family Day, February17th.

below: Tying yellow ribbons on the yellow metal frame in “Mirage”, designed by Cristina Vega and Pablo Losa Fontangordo.  The orange frame is parallel to the lake and the yellow sections are perpendicular.    Depending on where you are standing, you see either a red transparent sun setting or a light and bright rising sun laying on the horizon.

5 people working, two up on ladders, Lake Ontario in the background, tying yellow ribbons on an orange metal frame, finishing touches on an art installation called Mirage

tying yellow ribbons on an orange metal frame, finishing touches on an art installation called Mirage

below: “The Beach’s Percussion Ensemble” by Centennial College while under construction.

woman holding a shovel, on beach, by some yellow and pink boxes, installing a public art display at Woodbine Beach

below: The end product.  There is now graffiti on the boxes

tagged and graffiti covered pink and yellow boxes stacked on the beach, art installation by Centennial College students.

below: and cowbells hung from the underside of boxes in a couple of places.

smal cowbells hang from the underside of a yellow box that is stacked on top of two other boxes, one yellow and one pink

below: “Kaleido­scope of the Senses” is a strong piece designed by Charlie Sutherland of SUHUHA (An architecture studio in Edinburgh).  People were lining up to take turns sitting on the lifegusard chair.

people lined up to take a look inside a portion of art installation at Woodbine Beach

a father lifts up a young boy in a red winter coat so he can sit inside an art installation over a lifeguard station at the beach

below: “Noodle Feed” by iheartblob was very popular on the Sunday before Family Day (the official opening of ‘Winter Stations’).   It wasn’t designed to have a jumping feature but that’s what all the kids were doing that day.  The fabric tubes are filled with straw.

a girl jumping off a lifeguard station onto rolls of fabric stuffed with straw, on the beach

below: When I returned to the beach a few days later, the installation was gone.

a metal frame lifeguard station, raised seat, with a red board against the back and a sign on the front that says do not jump off lifeguard chair

blue pole with two small signs, both with snow on them, the top sign just has the number 3 on it. the other sign has its back to the camera so it can't be read

Information about the installations can be found at winterstations.com

as the lights come on

Posted: December 8, 2019 in events, locations, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

I’d heard that there were some Christmas lights brightening up the sky at Kew Beach.   What I didn’t know then was that this is now an annual tradition;  it was started by DeClute Real Estate in 2007.  Since there was still some daylight left, I started my walk at Woodbine Beach, a bit west of Kew.

snow fence beside Lake Ontario at Woodbine Beach

below:  Small waves crash over the rocks at the shore.

slow mo pic of waves crashing over a rock at the beach

below: Leuty Lifeguard Station closed up for the winter.

Leuty lifeguard station in late afternoon, snow fence, some snow on the ground, lights on,

below: Ready to run

between a snow fence and Lake Ontario, a woman is in the process of throwing a ball for her dog who anxiously awaits the throw

long snow fence running parallel to the shore at Woodbine beach in December, some snow, no people

sunset behind Lake Ontario at Woodbine Beach, snow fence, some snow on the ground

 

below:  Once I got to the Kew Beach boardwalk I discovered that there are other reminders that it is now December.   And what could be more appropriate than some Christmas decorations to add some cheer ? Pine and poinsettias on a bench.

bench decorated with fake pine, pine cones and a red poinsettia flower

below: Bright red ribbons tied around a small tree.

 

ribbons tied around a small tree trunk and branch, one red ribbon and one red and white striped ribbon, Christmas decorations

below: Shiny Christmas ornaments hanging from branches and a wreath on a tree trunk.

a shiny silver ball, Christmas ornament, hangs from a small tree, in the background is a red ball also hanging from the tree, as well as a green Christmas wreath attached to the trunk of the tree

below: More signs that Christmas is soon –  Some of the trees along the bike path and boardwalk at Kew Beach have been decorated with Christmas lights.   As the daylight begins to fade, the Christmas lights become more noticeable.

late afternoon as it starts to get dark, along the bike path at Kew Beach, some Christmas lights on a few of the trees

below: Looking back towards the city as the sun goes down.

looking towards downtown Toronto from the boardwalk at Woodbine beach, sunset, orange colour with small clouds, some snow on the ground

 

below: The mood and atmosphere of the beach changes as it gets dark outside.  The light shining on the Muskoka chairs highlights the pink and green colours and almost makes the chairs look translucent.

after dark, lights shining on two Muskoka chairs beside the boardwalk at Kew Beach

dusk, Kew Beach, snow, lights, snow fence, and trees,

night, Christmas lights on a tree

after dark, Christmas lights on tree, lights beside path, snow on the ground, small puddles on path

The lights remain until well into the New Year.  More information can be found on the Light Up the Beach website.

 

shiny green Christmas garland wrapped around part of a snow fence

water logged

Posted: June 6, 2019 in locations, people, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Each spring the water level in Lake Ontario rises as the snow to the north of the city melts.  That’s a given.  The question has become just how much water there will be.  This year the water level is very high again, perhaps as high as it has ever been.

below: Sea gulls enjoying the pond that has formed at Woodbine Beach

Leuty lifesaving station in background, lifeguard station on beach, with water and sea gulls in front of it

below: Some of the many different coloured Muskoka chairs that now dot the beach.  How many hundreds? thousands? of similar pictures are online now?  They do add an interesting and cheerful burst of colour.

4 muskoka chairs lined up on the beach, pink, blue, yellow, and red, lots of water, a person is sitting in one of them but photo is of back of chairs.

a line of muskoka chairs along the edge of the boardwalk, beach, Lake Ontario

a woman is sitting in a blue Muskoka Chair reading, with her legs sticking out the side of the chair, view from behind, water in front of her as well as a line of rocks with seagulls on them, Lake Ontario

below: A quiet reading spot of a different kind…. as the swans swim by.

a person sits by rocks and a tree on the beach by Lake Ontario, reading a book, swans swimming past

rocks and sand at Woodbine Beach, with water behind the lifeguard stations because of flooding of Lake Ontario

below: Sandbags and rocks protect part of the boardwalk from Lake Ontario water.

sandbags, some empty, line the shore up against rocks and a boardwalk with a railing, flooded,

two women push strollers along the boardwalk by Kew Beach, CN tower and Toronto skyline in the distance, other people on the boardwalk and beach too

a woman in a bright red coat is about to throw a large stick into Lake Ontario for her dog to chase, empty lifeguard station beside her

below: Putting up the volleyball nets where it’s dry, Woodbine Beach.

a man is putting up volleyball nets on the poles that aren't in the water at a flooded Woodbine Beach

volleyball court poles standing in the water, flooded Lake Ontario at Woodbine Beach

a flooded Woodbine Beach because of high levels of water in Lake ontario, poles in the water for volleyball courts, nets, but too much water

rocks and pebbles along the shore of Lake Ontario, a small island of rocks with a small tree growing on it

fence surrounding dog park, tall grasses, shrubs and trees in dog park, CN Tower and Toronto skyline in the distance, Woodbine Beach

below: The fence around the dog park is in the water

a tree in the water, part of a fence also in the water, Lake Ontario

water behind the lifeguard station, Woodbine Beach, someone has put a cross made of two branches lashed together

a flooded Woodbine Beach

below: Making friends

a woman holds her black dog while a girl in pink jacket reaches out to touch it.

below: As I was returning to my car, I spotted a slightly fancier car than mine…

pale blue and black mclaren car parked in a parking lot, woman with dog in the background

Winter Stations 2019

Posted: February 19, 2019 in events, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
5

panorama of Woodbine Beach on a February day, art installation in yellows and oranges, lots of people, snow on the ground, winter clothes, Lake Ontario, blue sky with one wispy cloud

This year there were five installations at Woodbine Beach for the annual ‘Winter Stations’ event.   Yesterday, February 18th, was the opening day.  It was also a holiday Monday, Family Day, and lots of people were at the beach.

below: Forest of Butterflies by Luis Enrique Hernandez of Mexico.

close up of orange and yellow shapes that make Firest of Butterflies

part of 'Forest of Butterflies' sculpture in the foreground, along with two boys who are looking at it In the background, standing on a hill of snow, is a man taking a selfie with his golden lab dog

below: The lake was very wavy and rough on Family Day. There was lots of water spraying onto the piles of snow and ice as the waves crashed against the shore.

standing on the snow and ice covered beach in February, wavy day, waves crashing against shore producing spray , people standing and watching

below: ‘Above the Wall’ designed by Americans Joshua Carel and Adelle York.  Climb the stairs and meet people on the platform at the top.

two wooden staircases meet at the top, above an old rusty corrugated metal wall, platform at the top for people to meet

below: ‘Chairavan’ by a team from Sheridan College.

red metal chairs that look like lifeguard stations, part of Winter Stations 2019 at Woodbine Beach,

a woman in a red parka is climbing onto an elevated red metal seat

a young woman in pink snow pants is kneeling on a red metal structure, outdoors, snow,

below: ‘Mind Station’, designed by Tomasz Piotrowski and Łukasz Chaberka from Poland.

the circular art installation 'Mind Station', wood, on the beach beside Lake Ontario on a winter day, two men walking towards it, trees in the distance

below: Interior view – stand on the stumps to look out holes in the roof.

three wood stumps stand upright on the ground, interior of art installation

below: One of the views from the roof.

looking out of a hole in the roof of 'Mind Station' art installation, towards Lake Ontario, other circular holes in the roof

a woman in a tartan scarf walks past 'Mind Station', an art installation at Woodbine Beach made of plywood

below: ‘Cavalcade’, designed by a group from Toronto: Victor Perez-Amado, John Nguyen, Anton Skorishchenko, Abubaker Bajaman + Stephen Seunwon Baik

cavalcadde art installation at Woodbine beach, cutouts of people walking

a man and his shadow and many life size cut out figures of people in bright colours

below: The construction phase

constructing an art installation on the beach in the winter, Woodbine Beach, Winter Stations, colourful life size plywood cutouts of people

man riding on a small machine that digs holes in the ground

 

Apparently, this was the 5th year for ‘Winter Stations’.  Previous years ‘Winter Stations’ blog posts:

Flotsam and Jetsam and others (2017)

Warming with everyone and their dog – almost (2018)

 

snow and ice accumulations along the shore of Lake Ontario, waves crashing into the shore

laid back catching rays

Posted: June 8, 2017 in nature, people, waterfront
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Yesterday afternoon was perfect for a stroll along the boardwalk.  I hadn’t been in that part of the city since the flooding occurred earlier in the spring.  The lake levels are still high but that doesn’t prevent people from enjoying the sun and sand.

at the beach, a woman with a large yellow hat and red top lies under a red, orange and yellow striped umbrella, lake and sky in the background

below: Party time behind the fence! This scene caught my eye because of the positioning of the chairs behind the fence (part of the beach is closed after the flooding). It wasn’t until I looked at the picture on my computer that I saw the LCBO bag between two of the chairs and the can of Palm Bay on one of arm rests.

three Muskoka chairs, red, blue, and yellow, on the beach with the tops of three heads showing, a dog lies in the sand beside them, Lake Ontario in the background. An LCBO bag between two of the chairs. A large thermos mug on the armrest of one chair and a can of Palm Bay vodka drink on the arm of another. An orange plastice fence is in front of them because that part of the beach is closed because of high water levels

below: The lifeguards are now manning some of the stations.   Because of the flooding, there is a pool behind the lifeguard where there was once beach.

lifeguard at Woodbine Beach, the beach is flooded so that there is also water behind the lifeguard. two chairs, one yellow and one green, sit in the flooded part

below: The remnants of sandbags ebb and flow with the waves.   Grounded.   Just enough sand to keep them from floating away.

the remains of ornage and yellow sandbags on a beach, some sand still in them so they don't float away.

a woman with red hair lies under a blue and white umbrella on the beach by Lake Ontario

a man sits on a red Muskoka chair in the flooded part of Woodbine beach. A red and yellow flag flies behind him.

below: The high water levels have encroached on the dog park.

flooded beach, fences in water, remains of orange temporary fence, a tree in the water

a man is lying on his back on Kew Beach, by Lake Ontario, a Canada goose is swimming by.

a woman sits on top of a picnic table onthe beach because the sand comes up to the level of the seats, lake and rocks in the background.

below: Look! An aerial view of Stonehenge! LOL.  And with that smile (I hope!)…  and with sand between my toes and in my sandals, I’ll leave you for another day.

a ring of pebbles in the sand on a beach