This row of old two storey row houses has been vacant for years. Recently the developer that owns the properties provided a couple of Toronto artists the opportunity paint the exterior. This is the result.
If you look carefully, you can see that Nick Sweetman and Luvs (aka Moises) have painted the word CHANGE across the front of the buildings. As a theme for a mural on a redevelopment site in a city bursting at the seams with such sites, change seems very appropriate.
below: I’ve played with the colours a bit to highlight some of the letters. You should be able to see C, H, and A across this image.
But the mural is more than colour and letters. There are three animals featured here – pigeon, raccoon, and coyote – all of which have adapted to changes and now thrive in urban environments.
and other little distractions near the south end of Leslie Street.
below: The bright red walls of The Duke stand out at the corner of Queen Street East and Leslie Street.
below: Just to the south of Queen, this red door marks Memory Lane
below: On the same brick building as the door above there is a window with eight panes of cloudy glass surrounded by a thin red line.
This is 1233 Queen Street East and it was formerly Lee’s Food Products. China Lily brands soy sauce was produced here for about 70 years. The building was constructed in 1920 and was first used as a billiards house with apartments above. Yeat Yum Lee bought the building in 1947 and turned it into offices and a factory for his food products.
There was an attempt last September to have the building designated as a heritage site but if the Lithos Group (the development company that owns the property) website is accurate, the old building is about to be demolished. Another condo with blah (i.e. non-existent) street level planning. The blue and white city development notice on the building says that there will be 132 residences on 8 storeys (with retail at street level). There will be parking for only 10 cars.
below: Metal tower (container?) on the side of the Lees building. The Duke is on the other side of Leslie Street.
below: Front window of 1233 Queen Street East
below: Like many empty buildings that are waiting to be demolished, the walls become a canvas for graffiti artists to take advantage of. Here, two identical faces with different tastes in drinks.
below: Multicoloured diamond shaped ‘scales’ on the iguana…. or is it a chameleon who can’t decide what colour it needs to be?
below: More wheatpaste on a brick wall.
below: The Duke, a solid brick building built by James Morin in the 1870s as the Morin House Tavern. Morin had been a grocer who went into the brick business; he was the first in the east end to make mechanized pressed bricks. It was renamed ‘The Duke of York’ in 1912 in honour of Prince Edward – Duke of York & Albany. If you are interested in the history of this part of the city, Leslieville History has a webpage full of information and stories
below: Fading MEN at The Duke (it’s a big step up…. or down)
below: In a nearby alley, “Eat the rich”! The fork is provided.
below: Beside, and in, the window of a Thai restaurant. I was a bit hesitant about the “Piss Riffin” on the sticker but as it turns out, it’s a podcast where they talk about things “that matter like life , love and most importantly piss!” So consider yourself warned before you click that link!
below: Gas pumps on queen just because (I like the chaos of competing shapes and colours).
below: Part of a mural by Rowell Soller
below: Another nose nearby – but a much larger one! Beware of nasal drip!
below: by Nick Sweetman – two ebony jewelwings, a male and female along with a partially submerged frog with its tongue ready for action. Jewelwings are a species of damselfly.
There is a railway bridge over Lawrence Avenue West just to the east of Weston Road (close to Weston UP Station). The walls beside the sidewalk on both sides of the underpass have been painted with street art designs of flowers, birds and animals. The murals are the result of a collaboration between Que Rock and Alex Bacon.
‘Out and About – Windows of Time’ is a large mural by Christiano De Araujo that features scenes from the social history of Weston village. Unfortunately, the (painted) young man who is sitting on the sidewalk and playing a guitar is hidden by the (real) car parked in front of the mural.
This post is actually a continuation of today’s other post, “A Little Piece of Weston”. You’ll find other murals and street art there as well as a few little odds and ends about the Weston neighbourhood.
This blog post is the result of a walk around the vicinity of Lawrence Avenue East and Weston Road. The latter was once Main Street in the village of Weston.
below: Approach to the Weston pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks. The Grand Trunk Railway was built here in 1856 (now Canadian National Railway, CNR).
below: Elicser Elliott’s paintings of cyclists over the years line the ramp to the bridge.
below: Looking back to the west
below: Looking south towards Weston UP station (Union Pearson Express) at Lawrence Ave.
below: A young girl outside on a sunny day in a bright and cheerful painting on a lone house. Next door is an Islamic Association and Masjid. Like so many other places in the city now, a larger and taller building fills the background.
below: Street scene and evolution – The oldest buildings are in the row of two storey commercial establishments that line Weston Road (by the traffic lights). Behind them are apartments that are a few decade old. Last, the most recent development is in the immediate foreground, right hand side.
below: Jerk Hut, Desserts, Juices, and Candy Cakes all squeezed into a little building beside (behind?) CashWay. And while you’re there, you can get your palm read upstairs.
below: Southeast corner of Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue East.
below: For all your vegan leather and faux fur needs – Honeyy dripp (I had to look it up!)
below: There is a series of pictures on these windows that was painted by Bryan Bermudez, Jim Bravo, Niel Yee, and Rowena Kizito in 2014. It depicts young people from three different eras.
below: ‘Weston Streetscape circa 1900’ by Mario Noviello, 1997-1998. Original concept by Eric Lee. A streetcar passes in front of Weston City Hall. On the right is the Central Hotel with the brick steeple of Central United Church just visible behind it.
below: Another bike
below: I think that someone is a Maple Leaf fan!
below: Peter’s Barber Shop is now on Pantelis Kalamaris Gardens. In fact, the street was named after Peter back in 2012, just after the 50th anniversary of the shop opening (which was in 1961).
below: And nearby is Johnny Bower Blvd. Bower (1924-2017) was a Toronto Maple Leaf goalie in the 1960s, a great decade for the Leafs as they won the Stanley Cup four times…. 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967. Bower and his family lived on this street at the time.
I also saw many wonderful older brick houses, the kind that we aren’t building any more. Some of the styles were common to Toronto while some were more unique.
below: All decorated for Valentines Day.
The next blog post, ‘Out and About in Weston’, features a mural in Weston that was painted by Christiano De Araujo.
A short while ago, I posted some pictures from Little India which is centered on Gerrard Street. If you travel farther west on Gerrard you come to what has become known as Chinatown East (as you approach Broadview).
below: Nappa, Chinese cabbage, and White radish,
below: Scenic Aqualium Co., Exotic Fish and Bonsai (yes it has an ‘L’).
below: Shoes, boots, and umbrellas.
below: Carrots and tomatoes
below: Pomegranates in boxes and forks on the wall
below: Aging price list
below: Old Lumberking ghost sign on the southwest corner of Logan and Gerrard
below: Broadview and Gerrard – looking east along Gerrard
below: Streetcar stop on the southwest corner of Broadview and Gerrard
below: Square and orange on top.
below: More stores – Jiahua Trading Company with its assortment of goods beside the Dai Kuang Wah Herb Market.
below: One Plus One Hair Salon, Tung Hing Bakery, and Sing Sing BBQ House – all adding to the eclectic mix of store fronts in the area.
below: House reflections
below: No more ‘Epoch Times’ in front of this store.
below: A get together of paper characters – The Incredible Raffa, Las Mujeres Vampiro, Life (that’s the one-eyed daisy), T-bonez got knifed in the back.
below: Peace, in red
below: White roses to heal with
below: Homer Simpson with 64 slices of cheese!
below: Santa Claus and a skeleton – covering more than one holiday at a time.
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below: Old mural street art painting in the alley (from 2016)
below: Infill – new housing being constructed in the alley
Dundas Street runs parallel to Gerrard, just a bit to the south…. and that is where you’ll find this dog sitting outside in rain or shine.
below: The Dundas Street Public School class of 2022 left their mark on the fence with their messages of love and peace.
below: As did the the class of 2021
This blog post may be getting too long so I will start to end it here with a brief survey of the older residential architecture on Gerrard and Dundas and the streets in between (for those of you who are interested in such things).
below: A semi with a shared central peak.
below: Little diamond windows
below: Details made with contrasting colours of bricks
below: Another semi detached house with a shared central peak.
below: Flat roofed houses with blues and reds.
below: Shapes – rectangles on top, rounded windows,
below: Cameras on the corner…. and a megaphone too?
And lastly, a shout out to Lamoon Thai Cafe where I stopped for a hot drink (great Thai tea!) and to get out of the rain for a few minutes.
January 23rd is Lunar New Year as we enter the Year of the Rabbit (except in Vietnam where apparently it’s the Year of the Cat).
below: Although this mural has nothing to do with rabbits (or cats), it is found in Chinatown. Three dragons cavorting on the wall on Oxford Street, painted by sightone in 2016.
below: Blue dragon guarding the door at number 5.
Nearby there is an alley where the Chinatown BIA has sponsored some murals with Asian themes.
below: A large koi, or carp, swimming towards a pink lotus flower.
below:“Flowers of the four seasons – Autumn Chrysanthemum” by rowdyradrat.
below: Another rowdyradrat painting – this one is “Flowers of the Four Seasons – Winter, Plum Blossoms” and it features Chinese plum blossoms.
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as I walk Toronto 