Kingston's Shoreline Shuffle Salutes your Waterfront Memories

Dear Kingston installation by Christine Dewancker. Part of the Shoreline Shuffle, June 23, 2013

On June 23, 2013 in Kingston, ON a public protest called the Shoreline Shuffle took place where several hundred’s of people walked, paddled and cycled 7.7km along Kingston’s downtown shoreline to raise awareness about the need for better public access and waterfront planning in their city.

The event was created by David McDonald, founder of the Water Access Group, and other organizers, Mary Farrar, Su Sheedy, Irina Svortsova, and Lea Westlake.

The day included hundreds of Kingston community members, and many enthusiastic volunteers who inspired, channelled, and captured the energy along the waterfront route. This included photographers, videographers, and 14 artists who set up site specific temporary sculptures along the shoreline related to the needs of each site in an exhibit called Dear Kingston.

As a result of the Shoreline Shuffle, in March 2016, the City of Kingston agreed to create a comprehensive long term waterfront strategy in close consultation with different levels of government, user groups and community organizations. This is now known as the Waterfront Masterplan.

This Saturday July 15th, as part of the Kingston and Wolfe Island Culture Festival, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Exhibit Curator Su Sheedy invite you to the opening of the  Shoreline Shuffle Salute - a photo and video exhibit remembering the success of the original shuffle four years later.

Moreover, through this exhibit we want to make sure the spirit of the Shuffle as well as the Kingston community’s love for the waterfront lives on to spark further progress.

Which is why, Waterkeeper invites you to come out and share your Kingston Waterfront memories at the Shoreline Shuffle Salute exhibit in a special installation for the Kingston Watermark Project Collection - the first of its kind. Stories will be collected and shared with all City Council members and City staff to mark support of the Waterfront Master Plan and its forward progress.

Together, let’s join to celebrate the Shoreline Shuffle as a public activist success story and continue to engage in the public process, for our love of Lake Ontario and the right to access it!