About
A fusion of art and sauna culture, Public Sweat is bringing two mobile saunas to our waterfront for a restorative wellness experience that soothes both body and mind.
Presented by Art Spin, each sauna offers a unique experiential vibe. The Mobile Art Sauna is an artist-designed sweat bathing space that incorporates public art and contemporary installations into its design, while Sip Saunas embraces the Finnish sauna, inspired by the Nordic spas found in Finland and Scandinavia. Whichever wood-fired sauna you choose, you will enjoy a complete hot-cold thermal cycle of steam and a cold bucket shower, followed by a rest at our outdoor campfires. This stimulating experience is designed to invigorate you and foster moments of self-care and social connection.
Experience artwork by:
Camille Kiffin, whose digital work “Sheltered Fleur” will be adhered to the side of the mobile sauna.
Gustavo Cerquera Benjumea, whose film “Specimen” will be screened inside the mobile sauna.
Plan Your Visit
Book your Session
Please save your ticket on your mobile device or print it out to bring with you when you check-in. A waiver will need to be signed on site before you participate.
Pack & Prepare
A bathing suit & towel are essential. While we suggest a bathing suit, if you prefer not to wear one, you could wear lightweight clothing that you feel comfortable in instead. Don’t forget sandals and a water bottle, and it’s always great to have a robe to wear by the fire post-sauna session!
Arrive on Time!
Arrive 15 minutes before the start of your booked session, to allow time to check-in. There are lockers on site to keep your belongings safe.
Sweat + Connect
Your session will last 1 hour. Take in the art, get sweaty, and save time for a hot chocolate at Harbourfront Centre before or after your thermal cycles.
About Public Sweat
Public Sweat is a unique fusion of art and sweat bathing. It’s also an opportunity to be invigorated by heat, bask in the gift of self-care and engage in social connection.
Presented by Art Spin as a continuation of their long-standing commitment to presenting contemporary art in unexpected spaces, Public Sweat is an ongoing and ever-evolving social experiment. It has seen various iterations, ranging from pop-up-style interventions with the mobile sauna in multiple neighbourhoods and events in Toronto to touring throughout Southern Ontario and, most recently, Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2023, Art Spin presented the Public Sweat festival, creating an art and sauna village for seven weeks at the Harbourfront Centre.
About the Mobile Art Sauna
Transformed by artist Chris Foster, a 16-foot utility trailer morphs into a fully functioning sauna designed to accommodate a variety of arts programming, from sound and video art to photographic vinyl wraps, poetry readings and musical performances. Our mobile art sauna has appeared at many locations and events throughout Toronto and Southern Ontario, including the highly acclaimed Public Sweat Festival in 2023.
About Art Spin
Art Spin is an organization that presents exceptional contemporary art in unexpected spaces to create unique public experiences. Led by the collaborative curatorial duo Layne Hinton and Rui Pimenta, artists, curators, city-builders, cultural mediators and urban explorers, we’re supported across various projects by interns, volunteers, artists, partners, funders and collaborators. As a small organization, we’re nimble, responsive and industrious, doing a lot with a little.
We’re a gallery without walls, a cultural centre that lives and travels across the city, a nomadic arts programmer and a cultural mediator – mentoring, collaborating, supporting and sharing contemporary art – making it public.
We discover and share overlooked and underutilized spaces. We recontextualize the built environment as a platform for contemporary art, crafting an atmosphere for a shared experience. The site is never secondary; place matters, and our projects expand the meaning and push the boundaries of public art. We’ve curated exhibitions and projects in abandoned buildings, on sailing ships and across a series of storage lockers. We’ve developed creative programming for talks and events, established an elaborate arts festival at a decommissioned theme park, curated Toronto’s 2019 Nuit Blanche and continue to be known for our founding events – our beloved art bike tours.
About Sip Saunas
Sip Saunas are Canadian designers, builders and enthusiasts of Finnish Saunas. Inspired by their travels through Finland, Scandinavia and Nordic Spas worldwide, their sauna obsession is the cornerstone of their sauna design, build and consulting practice.
Dates & Times
Tickets
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