The Colony

Kent Monkman

A dark, greenish-bronze sculpture of a beaver dancing with another beaver. The beavers have textured fur. Other beaver sculptures are blurred in the background.

Photographs of the maquette for The Colony by Kent Monkman. Courtesy the artist.

The Colony, 2026

Kent Monkman

Bronze, steel

Upcoming in September

Known primarily for paintings that confront colonial structures and histories, this is Kent Monkman’s first-ever public art commission. The concept of his sculpture will respond to the ecological design-consciousness of its permanent future home in Biidaasige Park, as well as its proximity to the water, where the newly formed mouth of the Don River meets Lake Ontario.

Cast in bronze, the monumental figurative installation, titled The Colony, will feature a twelve-foot-tall alto-relief and a series of large-scale thematically linked individual sculptures. Once installed, park visitors will be able to move through the sculpture and experience its many elements from multiple vantage points.

Monkman's new commission is one of two permanent destination sculptures that will anchor the Lassonde Art Trail. Commissioned and managed by LAT, once complete they will be gifted to the City of Toronto Public Art and Monuments Collection.

The artist Kent Monkman wearing a dark t-shirt touches a large, dark sculpture composed of numerous interwoven, branch-like elements, creating a rough texture. The sculpture stands in an industrial workshop with machinery visible in the background.

A behind the scenes look at Kent Monkman working at MST Bronze Limited - Art Foundry. Documentation by David Hartman.

A dark, greenish-bronze sculpture of a beaver standing upright on a shell-shaped base. The beaver has textured fur and its front paws are held to its chest. Other beaver sculptures are blurred in the background.

A bronze sculpture depicts a flying beaver perched on a beaver lodge, with a beaver below reading an open book. The sculpture has a greenish patina.

Photographs of the maquette for The Colony by Kent Monkman. Courtesy of the artist.

Kent Monkman

Cree

Kent Monkman is an interdisciplinary Cree visual artist. A member of Fisher River Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory, Manitoba, he lives and works between New York City and Toronto. Known for his thought-provoking interventions into Western European and American art history, Monkman explores themes of colonization, sexuality, loss, and resilience—the complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences—across painting, film/video, performance, and installation.

His artworks are held in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, New York; the Denver Art Museum, Colorado; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, New Hampshire; the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona; Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Québec; the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta; macLYON, France; and the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Private collections that house his works include Art Bridges, Bentonville, Arkansas; the Horseman Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri; the Tia Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Dallas, Texas; Forge Project, Taghkanic, New York; the Gochman Family Collection, NYC, New York; the Sobey Art Foundation, Pictou County, Nova Scotia; and the Rob & Monique Sobey Foundation, Pictou County, Nova Scotia.

In 2019, Monkman was commissioned as the inaugural artist to make two monumental paintings for The Met’s Great Hall Commission project. In 2023, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada—Canada’s highest civilian honour.

Portrait of Kent Monkman. Courtesy of the artist