The Junction recently launched its third annual Window Wonderland art walk, featuring 20 augmented reality (AR) window installations and two new animated murals designed by local and international artists. Photo courtesy The Junction Business Improvement Area (BIA)
The Junction recently launched its third annual Window Wonderland art walk, featuring 20 augmented reality (AR) window installations and two new animated murals designed by local and international artists.
This year, 40 artists will transform the Toronto neighbourhood into an interactive outdoor gallery.
One of the first events of its kind in the city, Window Wonderland is presented in collaboration with Artivive, an AR app which allows artists to add a digital layer to their work. With Artivive, visitors can point their smartphones at the artwork on the windows and wall murals, and watch the creations come to life.
For this year’s event, The Junction Business Improvement Area (BIA) has partnered with the city’s Outdoor Mural and Street Art Program to create two new murals which will also be animated throughout the event and beyond.
Titled Patterns of The Junction (painted by Julia Prajza and animated by Jonathan Petrou), and Composition with Abstract Shapes and Lines (painted by Erin McCluskey and animated by Shade Lourens, with original music by Joel Schwartz), these permanent murals aim to highlight The Junction as a hub for art and design, while attracting tourism to the neighbourhood.
“It’s such an honour to create a permanent mural in The Junction and design a piece of artwork residents and visitors alike can interact and engage with,” says McCluskey, a Toronto-based artist. “My mural’s overarching theme celebrates art in some of its most basic elements—line, shape, and colours—and I can’t wait to see how visitors interpret it.”
Window Wonderland is running now until Jan. 1. In addition to the outdoor gallery, The Junction BIA and ARTiculations Art Supply will host an indoor exhibition, to showcase additional work from this year’s mural artists. Through Jan. 6, the public can purchase the artwork, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going directly to the artists.
