DiverCITY on the Hill

A STEPS Public Art Project

The DiverCITY on the Hill project explored local stories and histories, creativity and feelings of belonging in Toronto’s Little Jamaica Community. Over 2023, the programming included free arts workshops, paid youth facilitator training, and multiple public art presentations.

Project at a glance

Location: 2654 Eglinton Ave West, York ON (“Magic Windows”), 2527 Eglinton Ave W, York, ON M6M 1T2 (“Expansion Thru Union” by Ella Loobie)

Artist(s): Moises Frank, Ella Loobie, Bridget Griggs, Ballinran Entertainment

Year: 2023

Oral History Collection: Fernanda MR and Chidubem Mozia

Photographer/Videographer: Anushay Sheikh

Services: Public Art Management, Cultural Planning

About DiverCITY on the Hill

STEPS’ work with Eglinton Hill BIA began with the award-winning I HeART Main Street Sharing Stories of Migration mural by artist Moises Frank. The community mural explores migration, unity, and imagination and features local West African drummer, educator and cultural keeper Saikou Saho sharing knowledge with a student.

Building on these themes of intercultural exchange, storytelling and community connections within Eglinton on the Hill, we launched the DiverCITY on the Hill public art initiative as a City of Toronto Cultural Hotspot SPARK project. This multi-phased creative project facilitated art and oral history collection as well as workshops for youth and residents in Toronto’s Keele and Eglinton area. DiverCITY on the Hill included a co-created community art exhibit featuring participants’ work, a mobile public art piece, and a multimedia projection installation informed by community art, stories, and experiences.

Engaging local youth, residents, and storytellers

DiverCITY on the Hill engaged local equity-deserving youth and newcomers, culminating in both a mobile art piece by Ella Loobie and a series of oral storytelling exhibits.

Youth training

STEPS and the Toronto Ward Museum facilitated a paid oral history collection and curation training opportunity for local BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) youth and newcomers with connections to the Keelesdale neighbourhood.

Through a Call for Youth Oral Facilitators, participants Fernanda MF and Chidubem Mozia attended in-person training on collecting and recording local stories to share and archive experiences in Little Jamaica. These stories further inspired the final “Magic Windows” new media installation. 

Community events

DiverCITY on the Hill also included a free in-person skill-building arts workshop with local artists Moises Frank and Ella Loobie. At this public event generously hosted at Egglinton Grill (a local restaurant and business), participants created drawings, learned techniques, and shared stories to inspire the final public artwork.

Bring Back the Love: Voices of community

Ballinran Entertainment created a multimedia installation that brings together the songs, memories, and stories of community members. Bring Back the Love is the neighbourhood-inspired song and digital projection illuminating Global Thrift (a new local business coming to the corner of Keele and Eglinton Ave W.). The window installation is a dazzling showcase combining music, visual arts, and stories from the local community. 

Expansion Thru Union mobile public art piece

During the summer, Ella Loobie continued to work with artist mentor Moises Frank to develop her largest and most public-facing project called Expansion Thru Union. In September, the community was invited to an unveiling event to celebrate Ella’s accomplishment, the vibrancy of Little Jamaica, and the end of an art-filled summer season.

With the artwork, Ella hopes to spark a discussion: What does expansion mean to you? Why is it important, and how can local support aid in its progression? As she shares, “We all have our personal hopes for the future of our community. When those individual thoughts come together expressed as one, a movement within the area can ultimately lead to a powerful result.”

Magic Windows public art window projection

DiverCITY on the Hill culminated in a multimedia window projection installation that captures the past, present, and future stories of local community members and creatives through visual arts, music, animation, and storytelling. 

The Magic Windows installation displays a diverse tapestry of stories told by local community members, Cooper Everett, Steve Tasso, Zakary Ibrahim, Bridget Gibb, Saikou Saho, Moises Frank, and Ella Loobie. This short film was brought to life by Ballinran Entertainment to highlight the impact of public artwork in Little Jamaica and center the experiences of community members.

Self-guided public art walking tour

Download the DiverCITY on the Hill Map (Dropbox) to take you and your family on a self-guided walking tour for a fun stroll through Eglinton on the Hill and to see the vibrant public art pieces in real life!

About the artists

Project partners and funders

Led by STEPS Public Art in partnership with Toronto Ward Museum, DiverCITY on the Hill is a City of Toronto Cultural Hotspot SPARK Project and funded by the City of Toronto’s Construction Mitigation Grant Program, as part of Government of Canada support through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), Toronto Arts Council, and Scotiabank.

We are grateful for our community partners KE Residents, Black Urbanism Toronto, Nia Centre for the Arts, Black Business and Professional Association and Oddside Arts.

DiverCITY on the Hill is also part of the I HeART Main Street Program presented by STEPS and RBC, and generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts and Ontario Arts Council.