as I walk Toronto

Sometimes I find myself in unfamiliar territory and so it was last week when I went to investigate some alleys where I’d heard that new murals had been painted.   My previous post, Around Wadsworth Park, was part of the same walk; there was just so much to see that I split my photos into two groups.  In general, the last post was north of Davenport Avenue while this post features Davenport and the streets & alleys to the south.

below: More raccoons by Emily May Rose, this time they are being watched over by a big white rat. Quite the dumpster fire!

below: A large mural by Birdo beside Charles Sauriol school

below: A man reaching out a multicoloured hand to a woman by Phillip Saunders covers the back part of the house

below: A brown octopus and bright coloured tiger playing together – a collaboration between Luvs and June Kim.

below: Baby birds with beaks uplifted in a mural by Bruno Smoky and Clandestinos

below: Blue jay and tomato face, rowdyradrat and Chris Perez

below: Taking cover under umbrellas on a rainy day in a mural by Elicser Elliott

below: Someone has extra time lying around, but without the coffee

below: Mural in a lane, signature says June, Bacon, and Erika.

below: Part of another June Kim feline

below: A man walks down the alley, between a mural on the right and Quick Recording Studios on the left.

below: In the window of the Art Academy of Canada, Davenport Ave.

below: A.J.’s So Fresh Coin Laundry, also on Davenport

below: A multi-lingual thank you to essential workers on Davenport – obrigado, gracias, merci, and grazie!

below: Boney Santa’s lost a lot of weight recently… he’s probably tired of all the weight gain jokes and comments though…..

below: More Emily May Roses’s mischievous raccoons and their cans of spray paint.

below: Anya Mielniczek’s woman’s face looks down the lane.

below: A closer look of the mural reveals another woman’s head on the far side along with people mixing together in the central portion painted by Raoul

below: HeldbyHuda mural

below: Patterns of circles and semi-circles on a gate by Stephanie Bellefleur

below: Another gate, but half of this one has been removed.

below: A Nick Sweetman painting of a large Cuckoo wasp feeding on a yellow flower

below: by Victoria Day

below: Sections of citrus fruit in glass bowls, by Steam

below: A pink and purple butterfly by Dani Coghlan

below: A floral wallpaper-like design by Tara Dorey

below: A collaboration between Diana Lynn VanderMeulen and Tebby G.

below: Pink flowers by Claire Browne

below: Self explanatory?

below: Planta Muisca mural with an orange snake under a purple night sky.

below: Birds wearing neckties and hanging out together in a mural by Rob Elliott

below: Sometimes while walking in this city during Covid and various lockdowns, even this might do!

below: Remains of a vegetable garden planted along the side of the alley. Portugal peppers once grew here.

below: Stop and smell the flowers

Support for the alley murals was provided by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.

Unfortunately, I have missed a few of the paintings.  A complete set of photos can be found on Erika James’s Instagram page.  She was one of the organizers of the project.

 

Some of the murals from this post can also be seen on by worldwide street art blog, Carleton Village murals Toronto 2021