As there were snow flurries over the weekend (FREAKIN' WHAT?! IT'S MAY!) I thought it was appropriate time to revisit my trip to The Beaches in Toronto in early spring to explore the Winter Stations.

I arrived on a weird weather day as I switched from my sunglasses, to hood up, to umbrella, to sunglasses in the span of an hour as I walked the 3km shoreline. But this was the final days of the short run art installation and I was determined to see it, having missed out last year. (Laziness. Pure laziness)

'What are Winter Stations?' I hear you ask. Winter Stations is an outdoor exhibition to celebrate Toronto's winter waterfront landscape. Located from Balmy, Kew, and Ashbridges Bay beaches along Lake Ontario in a Toronto neighbourhood known simply as The Beaches, the artists have used the life guard stations as the armature for many of the installations.
It ran for roughly a month; Feb 15-Mar 20, 2016.

The theme for the 2nd annual exhibition was Freeze/Thaw, inspired by last year's wicked temperatures at the same time and how the weather didn't stop Torontonians from getting out there.

This is an open competition and the winners are invited to build their proposals for the exhibition period.

No damage is allowed to come to the life guard stations themselves and artists must be aware of the limited security to the pieces and the possibility of vandalism or general ''wear and tear from the curious'' (favourite line from the website!)

#steamcanoe by OCAD University Found here

#inthebellyofabearby Caitlind Brown, Wayne Garrett, and Lane Shordee found here

#flow by Calvin Fung and Victor Huynh found here

#floatingropes by MUDO (Elodie Doukhan and Nicolas Mussche) found here

#lithoform by Ryerson University found here

#auroraborealis by Laurentian University found here

Winter Stations is certainly a way to celebrate this Canadian landscape that usually only gets noticed in the warm months (unless you are a dog walker).

I was glad to have been there on such a moody day too, just look at those angry clouds. I couldn't stop photographing them, but I did have to finally give up when the off and on rain showers turned into hail.

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