I’m walking past Pimisi Station on LeBreton Flats wondering why I’ve waited so long to explore the treasure trove of public art in Phase 1 of Ottawa’s LRT O-Train stations. (Oh, right, there’s been that year of Covid and all).
A few days later, on the coldest day of the year, I buy my first daypass and hop aboard.
Map: Wikipedia Commons/ Creator: SuperBenjamin
Through a peer-reviewed competition, twenty-four Canadian artists were selected to create installations for 13 stations along the new 12.5km Confederation Line. Pimisi Station, the first to be built, exclusively showcases works by Algonquin Anishinabe artists.
The City of Ottawa Public Art Program commissioned site-specific art through a one percent funding allocation from new municipal development projects. This is a common tool used by cities across North America to fund cultural projects, especially permanent public art installations that boost tourism, elevate city status and contribute to the civic, aesthetic and intellectual life of its citizens.
In 2023, the Phase 2 extensions will add another 44 kms of rail and 24 new stations, each with public art installations by international artists. According to the city’s website, Phase 2 “… will position Ottawa as a leading city for innovative and engaging contemporary art in the public domain.”
- It takes 26 minutes to ride non-stop from one end of the line to the other. Click here to check station accessibility and other services.
- Purchase a Day Pass for $11/adult to make endless stops for one price; on weekends and specific holidays, use a 1-Day DayPass as a Family Pass; Sunday & Wednesday Seniors 65+ ride for free
- There is no public art on the Trillium line, only on the Confederation Line
- Some art is outside, or on the exterior grounds, of the station and may be viewed without purchasing a ticket to ride; some of the art within the stations is sited inside the Fare Paid Zone while others are in the public thoroughfares and don’t require a ticket; check the station listings below for details
- Searching for public art is the best kind of treasure hunt, but some of the works may be tricky to find; check the station listings below for tips and directions
- Some of the stations are underground while others are covered but open to the elements; dress accordingly
- Passes can lock-out if you try to go back and forth across platforms too quickly (this prevents others from using your personal pass); wait about 5 minutes and try again.
- Pack snacks and water; external water fountains are turned off for the winter
- Look for the OCTranspo ambassadors in yellow vests if you have questions or need assistance
Hours of Operation:
Monday – Thursday, 5:00am to 1:00am
Friday, 5:00am to 2:00am
Saturday, 6:00am to 2:00am
Sunday, 8:00am to 11:00pm
All images ©Andrea Cordonier
Derek Root/Gradient Space
What I love: Blocks of bold colour = insta-happiness; the seamless integration of art with architectural design (I dream of a house with these elements).
Notes about location and access: The skylight (roof) element can be seen from the top (main) floor of the station without purchasing a ticket; access to the glass wall mosaics (the escalator walls + lower station level) is within the Fare Paid Zone
Adrian Gollner/As The Crow Flies
Pierre Poussin/Cascades
What I love: Göllner’s concept of mimicking and merging the skyline, a crow’s flightpath and the rolling shape of the Gatineau Hills as a map/interpretation of place. Cascades, sculptures-cum-public-seating, are guaranteed kid magnets for wild free play (run, jump, twirl, repeat 100x)
Notes about access: As the Crow Flies is located on the upper floor of the station within the Fare Paid Zone. Cascades sits on the north side of the station, on the pedestrian path; no ticket required.
Best time to visit: Anytime/any season
Simon Brascoupé (lead), Emily Brascoupé-Hoefler, Sherry-Ann Rodgers, Doreen Stevens, Sylvia Tennisco/Algonquin Canoe
Simon Brascoupé/Algonquin Moose
Simon Brascoupé, Claire Brascoupé and Mairi Brascoupé/Algonquin Birch Bark Biting Window Art
Nadia Myre/untitled (Pimisi/Eel)
Nadia Myre/untitled (woven basket)/
Nadia Myre/untitled (birch forest fence)
What I love: Integration of an Algonquin cultural theme in the building and art installations; overall unity of installations/architecture with place and space; centrality within LeBreton Flats/proximity to the Ottawa River/nature; fantastic city views and trainspotting from the east-facing windows of the upper floor; the juxtaposition of the eel and woven basket against the city skyline; watching birch forest fence unfold as the train pulls in/out of the station (it’s mesmerizing); being enveloped by the brilliant circular form of untitled (woven basket).
Notes about access: Pimisi/Eel, woven basket and Algonquin Moose are sited outside of the station (to the north + northwest) and don’t require a ticket; the untitled (birch forest fence) can also be partially viewed from the ground; stand on the north side of the building, face south and look to the upper floor.
However, untitled (birch forest fence) is best viewed from the platform and from the moving train (ticket required).
Algonquin Birch Bark Biting Window Art is on the street-level upper floor of the western entrance, installed on the south-facing windows on the left; no ticket required. Algonquin Canoe is on the west side of the lower level, installed overhead (look up!); it is within the Fare Paid Zone.
Best time to visit: Because the art installations are inside AND outside, Pimisi is at its best and most accessible during favourable sunny weather. This includes mid-winter when the skies are blue and crisp. But LeBreton Flats can be harshly cold and windy so dress accordingly.
A mesmerizing video of untitled (birch forest fence) by Nadia Myre, viewed as the eastbound train leaves Pimisi Station…
Geoff McFetbridge/This Image Relies on Positive Thinking
What I love: The eye-popping flat paint style; the bold colour and powerful, energetic forms; the masterful use of transitional spaces (mostly passageways and escalator runs) encumbered by low-ceilings; the humans rotated sideways to explode the scale of these gorgeous, symbolic, everyman/woman giants; that the action-packed sequences propel commuters forward.
Notes about access: There are two entrances: @Queen & Lyon Street and inside Place de Ville (north side of Queen). The installation is in two sections, one originating at each entrance. No ticket is required to view either section. However, the sections end at the opposite ends of the platforms leaving two options: 1) Buy a ticket to cross the platforms and directly enter into the 2nd section of the work or 2) Retrace your steps, exiting back the way you entered, re-enter the station at the 2nd entrance and follow it through to the end. Either way, it’s worth it.
Best time to visit: Low early morning winter light creates radiant shadow play on the floor of the station entrance @Queen & Lyon. Aside from this, the work is underground so time/season/weather is not a factor.
PLANT/With Words As Their Actions
What I love: The physical form of the installation with its 5,000-word laser-cut steel curtain and text celebrating the founders of the Women’s Canadian Historical Society; the marriage of the aesthetic with the intellectual; the exquisite fabrication. Allow extra time for this one.
Notes about access: There are two entrances: @Queen & Lyon Streets and inside Place de Ville (north side of Queen). It is located inside the Fare Paid Zone.
Best time to visit: The work is underground so time/season/weather is not a factor.
Jennifer Stead/Trails home and away
Douglas Coupland/Lone Pine Sunset
What I love: Illumination and “greenery” in otherwise cavernous and/or dark spaces; a modern, creative take on landscape.
Notes about access: There are three entrances to this station: Queen at O’Connor, inside the Sun Life Financial Centre at 50 O’Connor Street/155 Queen Street and S/W of Queen and O’Connor Streets in a free-standing bank of elevators. Coupland’s work is at street level and accessible without a ticket; Stead’s work is on the lower platform within the Fare Paid Zone.
Best time to visit: The work is underground so time/season/weather is not a factor.
Genevieve Cadieux/FLOW/FLOTS
What I love: Printed on six contiguous panes of glass, this photo-based installation fits the subject matter (water and proximity to the Rideau Canal) and its installation space brilliantly; its semi-transparency permits viewing of the train/people action below, enhancing the overall sense of movement of place.
Notes about access: This piece is installed directly above the east and west platforms inside the Fare Paid Zone.
Best time to visit: The work is underground so time/season/weather is not a factor.
Jim Verburg/The Shape This Takes to Get to That
What I Love: The pared down geometrics and tilework are cousin to Derek Root’s work at Bayview Station; they offer repose from the more visually complex installations across the system, acting as a kind of palate- (or palette-) cleanse between viewings.
Notes about access: On the central walking route through the station; no ticket required.
Best time to visit: The work is underground so time/season/weather is not a factor.
Derek Michael Besant/Train of Thought
What I love: The effective pairing of style/form/content with the pedestrian tunnel; staring at art and having it stare right back; the mix of funhouse + uncanny valley with the changeable faces; the addition of a surprise element of movement beyond the usual footsteps and rolling bike tires.
Notes about access: Exit the station and follow the walkway to the left; no ticket required.
Best time to visit: Anytime, but night would be interesting; pair with a night visit to Sphere Field (see below) and Lees Station (the next stop) to check out the illuminated birds.
Kenneth Emig/Sphere Field (no photos)
What I love: That the mirrors within the sphere within the cube remain exactly the same while reflecting the changes in the surrounding buildings, the seasons and passersby; it’s a sculptural Dorian Gray.
Notes about access: Located above and to the right of the pedestrian tunnel; no ticket required.
Best time to visit: The cube and sphere are illuminated so are best seen in the low light of dawn/dusk/night.
Amy Thompson/Transparent Passage
What I love: The remarkable cohesion of this multi-part installation; the intimate, human-scale of the art, architecture and functional aspects; the feeling of being in a secret, walled garden; the layering and textures; the parade of pedestrians and pets on the other side of the glass wall; the origami-inspired metal birds. I love EVERYTHING.
Notes about access: The station can be viewed without a ticket from the segregated pedestrian path behind the station, and, in part, from the entranceway.
Best time to visit: Anytime, any season; the snow adds another level of interest to the glass-covered walkway roofs; dawn, dusk, night for the illuminated bird sconces.
Jill Anholt/Coordinated Movement
What I love: The concept of the ribbons of gradated metal referencing, among other things, avian flying routes of the Atlantic Flyway; the challenge of imagining and designing a large scale installation piece that seamlessly wraps itself around a building exterior; the complex processes of fabrication.
Notes about access: The installation is outside the station, overhanging the pedestrian path; no ticket required.
Best time to visit: Daytime, to take advantage of the colours and reflections.
Jyhling Lee/National Garden
What I love: The primary material – mirrored finish stainless steel panels anchored on the underside of the glass canopy; that each floral design is cut out on three sides and bent down like a tab, an amped up Alice-in-Wonderland level of childhood cardboard cut-outs; looking up, and seeing myself (here, in the dead of winter) in a garden of Canadian flowers; this wondrous, stellar feat of imagination and craft that’s ridiculously Instagrammable.
Notes about access: Can’t miss it; outside of the stations (Via Rail + LRT); no ticket required.
Best time to visit: Bright, sunny day
Andrew Morrow/I Gave it Everything I Had
What I love: The sheer size of these pieces; Morrow’s painterly style and classical figureworks; the “hidden” artists”; the evocation of golden, idealized summer days, of the deep pleasure of beauty and the ache of the sublime embedded there.
Notes about access: The three murals of this installation are sited at track-level (two on the westbound platform + one on the eastbound platform); a ticket is required to get up close and personal with them; standing on the eastbound platform, two of the three are visible: one is right there and the second is a decent long view away across the track; the third mural is around a corner, and so, hidden from view from that vantage point; alternatively, the elevated footbridge to St. Laurent mall can be accessed for free, providing a stellar view of the third mural and a long view of the first; 2 out of 3 ain’t bad if you don’t want to cross the track or spend any loot; having said that, the value in these pieces is being able to savour the details.
Best time to visit: The work is underground so time/season/weather is not a factor.
Don Maynard/Stand of Birch
What I love: I’m a sucker for birch trees; the evocation of the gentle elegance of the young trees before they grow to loveable giants.
Notes about access: Stand of Birch is sited at the east end of the station, between the east/west track; a ticket is required if you don’t want to peek from the front of the station.
Best time to visit: Anytime
cj fleury + Catherine Widgery/Lightscape
What I love: The link between aesthetic beauty and space research, mathematical order, colour and light in the creation of the installation; the thousands of coloured dichroic glass rectangles that activate according to their natural environment and movement from passing trains; the multitudinous orbs of coloured light that dance around the station when the sun is just low enough; and the reverse – the shadow work, the light-less ness – that is produced by the horizontal and vertical grids of the “code-like” screens.
Notes about access: While it’s possible to see the perimeter dichroic glass screens from outside the station, don’t skimp – go inside; the station is very handsome and is triply enhanced by the installations; worth a second and third trip to visit at different times of the day.
Best time to visit: Sunrise, late afternoon/sunset and sunny days
