2022: ThistlePOPS - plazaPOPS

ThistlePOPS 2022

Four installations were popped-up throughout the vibrant and (delicious!) Albion Islington Square Business Improvement Area in the summer and fall of 2022.

For 6 weeks in the summer of 2019, WexPOPS popped up in a parking lot in the Wexford Heights neighbourhood in Toronto, inviting the public to spend time in the parking lot the way they might in a traditional public space: There is no cost to enter and everyone is welcome.

For WexPOPS, plazaPOPS was engaged in a community design process with the help of our Community Working Group, comprised by local residents, Scarborough community organizers and business owners. Masters of Landscape Architecture students from the University of Guelph were engaged in the community design process through Professor Brendan Stewart’s Community Design studio.

WexPOPS, the pilot plazaPOPS popped up in July 2019 alongside the Wexford Heights BIA’s annual Taste of Lawrence festival. The installation occupied 10 parking spots at the Wexford Plaza. Throughout the installation, the site was programmed by events, concerts and other community initiatives.

Site & neighbourhood context

The Wexford Heights BIA, known for its creativity and its annual ‘Taste of Lawrence’ street festival, is home to over 60 diverse restaurants within its two-kilometer jurisdiction.

Host land owners & collaborators

The wexford restaurant
2072 Lawrence Ave E
Hosted the project, providing 10 parking spaces

AC waterjet
123 Crockford Blvd
Donated CNC milling services to create the WexPOPS signs and the Wish Tree.

CAS signs co
2080 Lawrence Ave E
Donated all the printing for WexPOPS signs

Rose’s kitchen
2602 Eglinton Ave E
Provided reduced cost food for the PATTY-O event.

Photo fast
2078 Lawrence Ave E
An employee from photo fast provided a DJ set

Project documentation

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Project team & collaborators

None of this would be possible without our vast network of collaborators

Wanda Howard
Project Manager

Jacob Pullman
Project Manager

Warren Russell
Building Volunteer

Keith Fraser
Event Planner

Victoria Chapman
Researcher

Thomas Lee
Project Manager

Warren Taylor
Public Relations

Victor Knox
Event Planner

Mary Bond
Project Manager

Benjamin Lawrence
Community Coordinator

Ryan Harris
Building Volunteer

Maria Taylor
Building Volunteer

Michael Mathis
Researcher

Vanessa Marshall
Researcher

Funders