Spring Shine is a light-activated window installation developed in collaboration with two Grade 4 classes at Thorncliffe Public School. The project was commissioned by Recreate Place, a child-focused public engagement consultancy, and funded through a Trillium grant held by the Koffler Institute’s Young Changemakers program. The work transformed student-made cyanotype prints into a large-scale vinyl window graphic installed in a school courtyard that students pass through daily, embedding public art into the rhythms of everyday movement and use.

Developed through a series of workshops co-facilitated by D&S Projects and Recreate Place, the project introduced students to public art and its role in shared space. D&S Projects led sessions focused on pattern, colour, light, scale, and repetition, enabling students to create individual works that were later translated into a cohesive collective installation. Using pressed organic materials, students produced cyanotypes that were refined and composed into a transparent film designed to interact with daylight, creating subtle shifts in colour and intensity across seasons and time of day.

The final installation uses light as an active element to animate the work over time. By situating the artwork within a frequently used courtyard, the project fosters ongoing engagement rather than a single moment of viewing, reinforcing public art as part of lived experience rather than a standalone event.

Photos by Christine Lim.