A Tribute to Toronto, 2022, Judy Chicago’s latest site-specific pyrotechnic display, will take place on June 4, 2022 at Sugar Beach on Toronto’s waterfront as the grand finale celebrating the conclusion of the second edition of the Toronto Biennial of Art. The renowned American artist will create her first Smoke Sculpture™ on Lake Ontario, releasing white, yellow, green, blue, and purple pigments from a structure on a barge. In the air, the pigments mix with the wind and sunset light to create a myriad of changing colourful effects until dissipating. In line with the artist’s long history of being a passionate advocate for the environment, Chicago and her collaborators — husband and photographer Donald Woodman, Chris Souza of Pyro Spectaculars and Maude Furtado of GFA PYRO — only use non-toxic materials that meet environmental safety standards to create temporary forms that, for several minutes, transform sites into an immersive experience for viewers. The electronic ignition that sets off the smoke emits little or no sound during the presentation.

Judy Chicago (born in 1939, Chicago, USA; lives and works in New Mexico, USA) is an artist, educator, the author of fifteen books and humanist. She considers her work and life as models for an enlarged definition of art, an expanded role for the artist and women’s right to freedom of expression. Judy is most well-known for her role in creating a feminist art and art education program in California during the early 1970s and for her monumental work The Dinner Party (1974–1979).

Time subject to change. Please visit our website for the most up to date information.

Rain Date: Sunday, June 5 | 8pm to 8:45pm

A Tribute to Toronto is commissioned by TBA and made possible with the generous support of Menkes Developments, ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-2022, the Delaney Family Foundation, Waterfront Toronto, the Waterfront BIA, and the Women Leading Initiative.

Image credit: Judy Chicago in collaboration with Pyro Spectaculars by Souza, Diamonds in the Sky, 2021. Fireworks performance, Belen, NM. © Judy Chicago/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; © Donald Woodman/ARS, New York.