events | as I walk Toronto

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Winter Stations 2023

Posted: March 21, 2023 in events, public art
Tags: Ashbridge Bay, burlap, Conrad raccoon, Daniel Joshua Vanderhorst, Delighthouse, Lake Ontario, Life Line, lighthouse, netting, Novak Djogo, people, Ripple Hut, the (Home), winter stations, Winternet, Woodbine Beach

Winter stations 2023, as in previous years, is a collection of art installations along the waterfront at Woodbine Beach. I went for a walk along the beach one very blustery Saturday morning. There weren’t many of us there and I think that I was the only one who wasn’t accompanied by a dog.

below: ‘Delighthouse’, designed by British pair Nick Green and Greig Pirrie.

below: A shrine to the neighbourhoods of Toronto titled “The (Home)” designed by Canadian group, Scott Shields Architects

below: “Ripple Hut” designed by students from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Department of Architectural Sciences.

below: Looking through one of the holes in “Ripple Hut” towards the curved yellow forms of “Surface Pavilion” which was designed by a Mexican team consisting of Cesar Guerrero, Ana Cecilia Garza, and Orlando Garcia .

below: “Winternet”, just burlap between wood posts. Designed, such as it is, by a team from University of Waterloo, Dept of Architecture.

below: “Life Line” – design team: WeatherstonBruer Associates – James Bruer, Nick Roland, Jacqueline Hampshire

below: “Conrad” is a large raccoon designed by Novak Djogo and Daniel Joshua Vanderhorst; it is also a memorial to Conrad the real raccoon who died at the corner of Church and Yonge Streets in the summer of 2015. Whether you love them, hate them, or are indifferent to them, raccoons are part of the Toronto scene.

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Some previous years’ installations:

2017 – Flotsam and Jetsam

Winter Stations 2019

Winter Stations 2020

On the waterfront – Winter Stations 2022

An afternoon at the Ex

Posted: August 29, 2022 in events, people
Tags: ball toss, Canadian National Exhibition, CNE, corndogs, families, games, kids, midway, people, pickle lemonade, prizes, rides, ring toss, slushy bear, stuffies, The Ex

The Ex is back (whether or not you think Covid is over!)

More 2022 CNE photos on a previous post (around and around we go).

around and around we go….

Posted: August 29, 2022 in events, people
Tags: Alpine crossing, Canadian National Exhibition, CNE, ferris wheel, fun, midway, people, rides, ring of fire, roller coaster, smiles, spinning, The Ex, tornado

…. and up and down, and back and forth….

Riding fun at the CNE midway!

6ix Art Outdoor

Posted: August 2, 2022 in events, locations
Tags: 6ix Art Outdoor, art, Distillery District, painting, people, sculpture

I came across these colourful sculptures at the Distillery District this past weekend. There are thirteen of them, all painted by different artists.

Artists:

Alex Garant,
AlfAlfA,
Caitlin Taguibao,
Clandestino Art,
David Anthony,
Fatspatrol,
Gosia Komorski,
Jacquie Comrie,
Jieun June Kim,
Michael Sparaco,
Natasha Kudashkina,
Peter Triantos,
Que Rock,
and Yen Linh Thai.

Pride Parade 2022

Posted: June 27, 2022 in events, people
Tags: Bloor St., costumes, crowds, dancing, dogs, flags, hugging, parade, people, placards, pride, Pride Parade, rainbow, signs, spectators, tattoos, trans, umbrella, watching, Yonge St.

Dancing in the streets. Pride 2022.

Photos from Dyke March 2022

Dyke March 2022

Posted: June 26, 2022 in events, people
Tags: abortion, banners, bikes, bubbles, coat hanger, crowds, dyke, dykes on bikes, fun, march, motorcycles, parade, people, poster, protest, Yonge St.

And we’re back! After missing two years because of Covid, Pride is back in Toronto.

Hot! ( 30+ C and sunny) but it didn’t seem to slow anyone down!

portraits, larger than life

Posted: May 7, 2022 in events, public art
Tags: CONTACT, Contact photography festival, Cultural Turns, georgia, Jorian Charlton, King St. West, Metro Hall, Out of Many, photography, portraits, Tyler Mitchell

This year’s CONTACT Photography Festival showcases the work of a few photographers who focus on portraits. Two of these, Tyler Mitchell and Jorian Charlton, are shown here.

First, on the west side of Spadina near King Street is this large portrait:

It is “Georgia” by Jorian Charlton, a Toronto based photographer whose works centers around Jamaican-Canadians and their culture. There is also an exhibit of her work titled “Out of Many” at the Art Gallery of Ontario that can be seen until 7 Aug 2022.

Nearby is a series of portraits by American photographer Tyler Mitchell (b. 1995) is on display on King Street West by Metro Hall. This is “Cultural Turns”.

There are actually three parts to this exhibition. Unfortunately I do not have photos of the other parts but they are billboards at Dovercourt and Dupont as well as an indoor component at the CONTACT Gallery.

pillow fight 2022

Posted: April 3, 2022 in events, people
Tags: fighting, fun, laughing, nathan phillips square, people, pillow fight, pillows

The spring pillow fight at Nathan Phillips returned this year. It was a smaller turnout than in pre-covid times but there was still lots of energy and enthusiasm! Family fun too – all ages welcomed and included.

below: After the fighting, a pillow toss to celebrate.

walking to the Bentway

Posted: August 9, 2021 in events, landmarks, locations, public art
Tags: art exhibit, ArtworxTO, Assemble, Bentway, Big Red, CN Tower, Double Dribble, downtown, Esmaa Mahamoud, fort york, Garrison Common, Garrison Crossing, GradEx 106, Graphic Arts, Illustration, Nil:Nil, OCADU, Palace Arms, Playing in Public, railway tracks, Studio F Minus

from King Street West

below: Palace Arms hotel on King Street West at Strachan

below: Southeast corner of Strachan and Wellington

below: She’s looking in the window

below: Harry Rogers worked for the city of Toronto in various capacities between 1921 and 1971. He was Commissioner of City Properties in the 1960s. Has this sign been here since then?

below: Part of Garrison Crossing pedestrian bridge

below: Yellow wild flowers growing in the field between the two sections of Garrison Crossing bridge. Looking east to downtown Toronto.

below: There are more than wild flowers between the bridges!

below: Sun bathing at Garrison Common, just outside Fort York

below: On the fence between Fort York and the Bentway there is a series of images that I happened upon the day I walked this route. This is GradEX 106, the work of graduating students in OCADU’s Graphic Design and Illustration program. My apologies to the few students whose work I inadvertently missed.

below: Michael Hu, Shahrzad Soroosh, Lydia Lam, and Dan Waites

below: Aidan Wilkins, Merryn Connelly-Miller, Vincy Lam, and Rebecca Michie

below: Leann Mei Foon, Tina Shan, Ivan Nikitin, and Emmily Fay Fin

below: Valerie Poon, Radha Joshi Raulgaonkar, Alan Zhang, and Sid Sharp

below: Joy Kim, Victoria Tao, Mia Debbas, and Emily Dakin

below: Lucy Hong, Thamara Perera, Tianshu Kuai, Jenny Lynne Castillo, Reyhaneh Mohammadi, and Caroline Icardo

below: Fence on west side of Fort York

below: More of the OCADU exhibit on the fence between Fort York and the Bentway

below: Caitlin Todd, Alizah Hashemy, Lina Wu, and Lisanne Van Der Oort,

below: Jon Owen, Joanne Lee, Kyle Miron, Vuoni, Selina Serok Park, Sarah McIntosh,

below: Liam Marks, Daniel Mendez, Daniel Melnyk, Haojun Gong, Jingyi Dong, and Mika Parial

Also at the Bentway is an art installation called ‘Playing in Public‘. This is part of ArtworxTO, Toronto’s year of public art 2021-2022. Three of the installations are shown below – they will remain at the Bentway until 26th September 2021.

below: ‘Nil:Nil’ by Studio F Minus

below: ‘Double Dribble’ by Esmaa Mohamoud

below: ‘Big Red’ by Assemble

go for the photography, stay for the love

Posted: August 1, 2021 in events, locations, people, public art
Tags: alley, Christ Donovan, Curtiss Randolph, Dunstin Brons, emily may rose, graffiti, hearts, Jesus, Maximum Exposure 26, New Generations, photography, Quran, reflections, RIC, Ryerson Image Centre, Ryerson University, statue, William McElcheran, Yonge Dundas Square

Yonge and Dundas and thereabouts

below: Part of a large relief sculpture on the wall of the northwest entrance to Dundas subway station of life sized figures on their way – Terra cotta artwork by William McElcheran from 2015.

below: Ryerson Image Centre,

There is a photography exhibit outside the Ryerson Image Centre showcasing three winners of the New Generation Photography Award, Chris Donovan, Dustin Bron, and Curtiss Randolph.

below: ‘Boy in the Window’ by Chris Donovan

below: A second, “Objects in Mirror” also by Chris Donovan

below: ‘AC 2019’ by Dustin Brons

below: ‘Horizon 2017’ by Curtiss Randolph. First in a short series involving a staged drama at this intersection.

below: The statue of Egerton Ryerson is gone. There is graffiti on the walls where the statue once stood.

below: On the Bond Street side of the Ryerson building is another photography exhibit. This is Maximum Exposure 26, an annual exhibit of pictures by Ryerson’s School of Image Arts students. There are 28 very diverse photos included here.

below: Food Pantry. Take what you need; Donate what you can.

below: In the alley behind the Lutheran church and Ryerson.

below: Peace, hearts and respect written on the green bike.

below: The old white building on the northeast corner of Victoria and Dundas is still there and the mural by Emily May Rose with its cute raccoons survives. If only the real raccoons were as lovable!

below: Looking east on Dundas. There is talk of renaming Dundas Street.

below: Yonge Dundas Square is now filled with hearts. There are pink heart shaped seats to sit on and pink hearts on the ground too. Each heart on the pavement has something about Toronto to love – street art, endless streets to explore, the Jays, great architecture, always changing, and more.