Kent Monkman builds a beaver condo for Toronto's waterfront
A beaver condo has landed on Toronto's waterfront.
Cree artist Kent Monkman unveiled The Colony (2026), his first public sculpture, on 30 September 2026 at Biidaasige Park in the city's Port Lands district. The work is a permanent commission, a piece ordered to stay in place long term, for the Lassonde Art Trail on the revitalised waterfront, according to The Art Newspaper.
The structure stands around 12ft tall. Made in bronze and steel with MST Bronze, a local foundry in Toronto, it forms an arch that visitors can walk inside and around. Inside and around it are beavers about four feet tall, each busy with a distinctive activity. The trail describes the piece as a 12-foot-tall bronze beaver lodge referencing Toronto's densely packed modern glass and steel condominiums, as listed on the Lassonde Art Trail site.
The timing was set well in advance. The unveiling was scheduled for 30 September 2026, the Toronto Star reported, and the City of Toronto marked the moment at Biidaasige Park in a video post. The commission itself was announced in 2023 by Waterfront Toronto, the public body overseeing renewal of the area, which said the trail will be operated and curated by the Lassonde Art Foundation.
That park sits on newly made land. It is part of a C$1.4bn ($1bn) revitalisation of the Port Lands that created a new island in Biidaasige Park and rerouted the mouth of the Don River where it meets Lake Ontario in the east end of Toronto. The works turned former industrial flats into parkland and waterways. Public art was planned as part of that change, not an afterthought.
The trail is the reason the work is there. Philanthropist Pierre Lassonde donated C$25m ($18m) to create the two-and-a-half-mile route along the water. The first line-up holds 17 pieces, most of them temporary. Two permanent works were commissioned for the launch, from Monkman and from Joana Vasconcelos. Temporary here means works installed for a fixed season, while permanent works are built in bronze and steel to stay outdoors year-round.
What makes this stand out is the address. This is free-to-visit art on a new island park, not a gallery show. For fans, this means you do not need a ticket. Just go for a walk and look up.
