IMA faculty-alumni duo take the lead on five-year project for Waterfront Toronto

TORONTO, October 22, 2019 -- Associate professor at the School of Image Arts (IMA), Vid Ingelevics, and recent Documentary Media graduate and adjunct professor, Ryan Walker, have been chosen by Waterfront Toronto to document one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Toronto’s history. Over the next five years, they will photograph The Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project (external link, opens in new window)  (PLFP), which aims to revitalize and naturalize the mouth of the Don River. In rejuvenating the river outlet, the project will simultaneously create critical flood protection for Toronto’s eastern waterfront.

Waterfront Toronto opened the PLFP competition to professional artists interested in creating a collection of photographs, over the course of five years, that would document both the renaturalization of the Don Mouth and the construction of flood protection infrastructure, new roads, bridges and parks. Ingelevics and Walker submitted a proposal in May 2019, and were announced as winners this past June. Their photographs will serve to engage the public in the process of revitalization and later, act as powerful archival artifacts.

“Vid and Ryan’s proposal stood out for its broad reach and multi-perspective framework. They each have distinct fields of interest and yet together their work is very complementary,” said Chloe Catan, Waterfront Toronto’s Public Art Program Manager. 

“Photography is the perfect medium for capturing the complexities of such a large construction project, and the layers of time and activities that reside at the site. It can also translate the revitalization process in many ways, helping the public understand the Port Lands Flood Protection project as a critical piece of Toronto’s urban memory.”

“As this is a very complex project with many moving parts and a duration of five years, it offers Ryan and I, the welcome but challenging opportunity to move between exercising a more traditionally documentary approach in certain cases and a conceptually-based interpretive approach in others,” said Ingelevics.

FCAD’s School of Image Arts, home to the graduate program in Documentary Media, exceptionally bridges traditional and emerging media practices; This allows students to develop strong foundational knowledge and push boundaries with new innovative methods. The Documentary Media program is exemplary of the school’s unique pedagogical structure and is the first program of its kind in Canada.

A pillar of FCAD and of its respective schools, is to encourage both emerging and established creative professionals to challenge conventional practices with their innovation and to pursue forward-thinking, impactful projects.

“My experience as a Documentary Media student inspired innumerable new perspectives and approaches for producing impactful long-term bodies of work,” said Walker. 

Of the four proposals short-listed by Waterfront Toronto, two were created by teams comprised of an IMA faculty member and a graduate alumni from the Documentary Media program; Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker, and Robert Burley and Eliot Wright.

“Through my documentary practice, I seek to explore themes of nature and identity with an interest in the interdependence of geographical and corporeal bodies - how location shapes identity, and vice versa,” said Walker. “The Port Lands Flood Protection Project is an incredible opportunity to not only explore these themes, but also contribute to the discourse and historical urban memory surrounding this massive transition in Toronto’s waterfront history.”

Learn more about The Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection Project here (external link) .

FCAD at Ryerson University

Ryerson FCAD is an impactful education hub and innovation ecosystem at the heart of Canada's media, design and creative industries. It is grounded in Canadian values but with a truly international perspective and scope. It is home to many of Canada's top schools and programs in their field and recognized as a leading institution around the world.

Waterfront Toronto

Waterfront Toronto is the public advocate and steward of waterfront revitalization. Created by the Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto, Waterfront Toronto is mandated to deliver a revitalized waterfront.

Media contact:

Nicole Bartnicki

FCAD at Ryerson University

Coordinator, Marketing and Communications

nicole.bartnicki@torontomu.ca