Join us for a talk and panel discussion with award-winning placemaker and thought leader/city builder Jay Pitter.

Date: November 16, 2022 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Location: Winter Garden Theatre, 189 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario

What is placemaking? Placemaking is an inclusive, community-based approach to public space design, activation/programming and policy.

The Ontario Heritage Trust is excited to announce that Jay Pitter is the Heritage Matters Live 2022 speaker and will be giving a talk called “The Future of Culture is …” This event will be hosted and moderated by Nahlah Ayed, host of CBC Ideas.

Pitter’s work is at the cutting edge of understanding and grappling with our complicated histories while ensuring an equitable future. Her incredible experience in placemaking, as well as her broader work in the culture sector, will make for a thought-provoking talk that will tackle the future of culture and design through a heritage lens.

In “The Future of Culture Is …,” Pitter asks us to examine how we define heritage, whose heritage is deemed worthy of protection and how to confront the complexity of colonial heritage symbols. Using examples from her practice, research and community stories, Pitter will take audiences on a journey that starts in the past, before looking at new possibilities for the future.

Jay Pitter has a vast body of experience to draw from, and some recent examples of her projects include:

— working with the City of Toronto to develop a Cultural District Program Proposal and a Little Jamaica Master Plan
— engaging the community regarding a statue to Queen Victoria and local efforts to decolonize public spaces, for the City of Kitchener
— leading the project to reimagine the Cheapside Confederate monument in Lexington, Kentucky, with site practice and research to address the community impacts of these public commemorations

At the end of the talk, there will be an onstage panel discussion with Pitter and a number of guests who will share examples of the tangible ways that individuals and organizations can meet the positive vision for the future laid out in Pitter’s presentation.