New Suburban Toronto Development’s Using Big Low-Rez LED Screen As Luminous Art Wall

November 1, 2021 by Dave Haynes

A development called SmartVMC on the outer edges of Toronto has put in a big low-rez LED video wall to run public art for the many people who spill out of regional buses and the north end of a subway line.

The outdoor display is billed as Canada’s largest low rez digital display – “a massive 10,000 square foot programmable luminous art wall (that) is a beacon for the City of Vaughan and beyond.”

This permanent public art infrastructure serves as a rotating gallery exhibiting a series of digital artworks from a series of artists for years to come.an emerging 100-acre, 20 million square foot city centre that is bringing a world-class destination to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC). Connected to downtown Toronto by the University subway line, SmartCentres’ flagship master-planned community is Vaughan’s newest metropolitan hub: A pedestrian-focused, dynamic epicentre for commerce, culture, recreation, open spaces, and urban living.

The video wall is at the base of one of three residential towers at the development, and looms over a oval transit loop. The development itself is steps from the building where longtime digital signage CMS provider Omnivex is located.

I like that this is public art, and it may just stay that way because of the low-rez nature of the screen. There have been developments here and there that started as ad-free and experiential that slipped into running booked advertising to generate revenues or recover costs. But brands and their media planners tend to have base requirements for how their spots look.