(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) EINPresswire/ -- Acclaimed Public Art Installation“Space for Grief” Returns to Toronto to Address the $75 Billion Cost of Unaddressed Grief

Space for Grief, the acclaimed public art installation and growing social movement, returns to Evergreen Brick Works. Opening with the Good Mourning Festival, the installation remains open to the public through November 11.

Created by Method Collective founders Ziyan Hossain, Calla Lee, and Fran Quintero Rawlings, the installation blends art, design, and systems research to reimagine how cities hold space for loss. Space for Grief challenges the assumption that grief must remain hidden or private, instead embedding it into the public realm as a catalyst for belonging and renewal. Its insights have informed“Grief-Informed Futures,” a framework now used internationally to explore how grief shapes systems in government, healthcare, and industry.

The 2025 edition expands the conversation to climate, construction, healthcare, and mobility, revealing how loss shapes every part of society with partners including the David Suzuki Foundation, the National Health Service (UK), EllisDon, Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists, and CP Planning.

From Policy to Public Experience

The installation serves as a living laboratory for grief literacy, demonstrating how art can open new pathways for learning and inspire systems-level change in how communities understand care, connection, and renewal.

Education: Our emotions, especially grief, deeply shape community health, public policy, and the built environment. Yet grief is rarely addressed in public education discourse. and is often understood only in relation to death. Space for Grief expands this view, exploring how loss, identity shifts, job changes, and displacement also affect our lives. Through workshops and participatory programming, it invites schools, workplaces, and civic institutions to build grief literacy as a foundation for collective well-being.

Workplace impact: In North America, unresolved grief is estimated to cost more than $75 billion annually through lost productivity, increased health care costs, and reduced organizational capacity.

Community connection: Through collective rituals and storytelling, visitors are invited to transform personal experience into public conversation, strengthening civic trust at a time when polarization is rising.

“Grief is not only personal; it's structural,” says Ziyan Hossain, lead artist of Space for Grief.“When we treat grief as a social force that shapes health, climate action, and even urban planning, we create the conditions for systems grounded in care, empathy, and resilience.”

The program includes Hidden Currents: How Grief Shapes the Systems Around Us, a public panel discussion on Sunday, November 2 from 1pm-2:30pm. Panelists include John Monahan of Mount Pleasant Group, the installation's Presenting Partner, artist-scholar Susan Blight of York University, and Connie Ellis of EllisDon, and Black environmentalist Julius Lindsay. Together, they will explore how grief can inspire systemic change and collective repair.

“As a funeral, cremation and cemetery operator serving the Greater Toronto Area for close to 200 years, we at the Mount Pleasant Group are no strangers to the expansive weight and ever-shifting contours of loss and grief,” says John Monahan, President and CEO of Mount Pleasant Group.“Grief is inevitable, universal, and yet also so very personal and unique in its ways and forms for each of us. It is important to hold space for grief by examining its impact on us as individuals and its ripple effects across our shared communities and social structures."

A Research-Driven Intervention in Public Space

Drawing from cultural, ecological, and policy research, the project makes grief visible and actionable.

Visitors will encounter an immersive environment integrated with the natural landscape of Evergreen Brick Works. A custom soundscape composed by Ziyan Hossain and Kurt Swinghammer creates an auditory journey designed to evoke memory, connection, and reflection.

Measurable Reach and Growing Momentum

Since its inception, Space for Grief has welcomed over 25,000 visitors, including civic leaders, artists, researchers, and community members of all ages. Its digital soundscape has been streamed more than 20,000 times, and its message has been amplified by thousands of individuals and organizations online.

Event Details
Dates: November 1–11, 2025
Time: 10 AM – 5 PM daily, extended hours Nov 5th and Nov 7th till 7pm
Location: Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Ave, Toronto
Admission: Free and open to the public

Visit to learn more, explore the installation, or plan your visit.

MENAFN26102025003118003196ID1110249355