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Spirit Stories under Old Mill

Posted: July 15, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: animals, Anishnaabe, bridge, First Nations, fish, Humber River, Jarus, kwest, murals, Nodjmowin Miskogayaashk, Old Mill subway station, origin story, Philip Cote, Spirit, Underworld, universe

The TTC subway tracks cross above the Humber River at Old Mill station. The concrete pillars that support the subway bridge have been covered with many watery blue First Nations themed murals.

below: The artist, Philip Cote, described the story behind this image on the ArtworxTO website (see link); like all cultures, the Anishinaabe have an origin story. In the beginning there was just Spirit. “And that spirit decided to send signals out into the universe and waited for a response. And when no response happened that spirit called the signals back and said, “As you come back to me, create light in the universe”. And at that moment they had light and dark in the universe. And that is the beginning of the Anishinaabe cosmology. Everything for Anishinaabe is made of light and dark. Everything we look at has a spirit, everything, the ground, the rocks, the sand, the trees, the birds, the plants, everything is… and even our sun and our Mother Earth and the moon, they all have a spirit.”

connecting with the spirit, beginning of the universe, philip cote mural, old mill subway station bridge

connecting with thousands of galaxies in the universe

The blues of the water, the Humber River, were painted by Kwest. Water is the Underworld in Ahishinaabe cosmology and the Guardians of this Underworld are the fish. Another artist, Jarus aka (Emmanuel Jarus), painted the fish.

Most of the paintings have a well defined circle. This is the boundary between water and earth, between the spirit world and the physical world. But there are connections between the two worlds – all living things are connected and we are all connected to the Spirit World.

These pictures also appear on another blog, Eyes on the Streets

Another circular route

Posted: May 15, 2022 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, intersections, old buildings
Tags: 33wallflower33, Broadview, construction, Don Valley parkway, DVP, Eastern Ave., foundry, Garfield, graffiti, heritage, hoardings, paste up, sketchrat, underpass park, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, water tower

From the West Don Lands, across Eastern, north on Broadview and then back west on Queen Street East to Parliament and the Distillery District.

below: Saved! Demolition of the old foundry building near the Distillery District. More on this story in a previous post from almost exactly a year ago. Also a paste up by 33wallflower33 of a well dressed woman throwing out Doug Ford’s head and paraphernalia such as beer can with “buck a beer” in it.

below: Signs of celebration on the fence around what ostensibly will be Eastern Avenue Affordable Housing (i.e. We’ll wait and see…)

bottom right: “Here’s why people are rallying to protect this Toronto heritage site from demolition. The provincial government has paused demolition of the Foundry site in the West Don Lands after an outcry in Toronto” From Toronto NOW.
bottom left: “Province starts demolition of heritage buildings in West Don Lands despite community backlash. Tearing buildings down ‘outrageous’ councillor says.” CBC News

below: A simple statement; a red paper heart tied to a tree.

below: Not all of it was saved… but at least they didn’t tear the whole thing down as originally planned…..

below: Ukraine symbol on a boarded up window

below: Smack! Urban Ninja Squadron paste-up along with a musical sketchrat.

below: The house with the two green cubes is still standing. Truth at the base.

below: A painted pillar in Underpass Park, with the pedestrian ramp up to Eastern Ave in background

below: A row of large rocks

below: The underside of the roof over the entrance to the condo is very reflective. It ‘mirrors’ the reflective ceiling of Underpass Park next door to it.

below: View from, looking east over Corktown Common, the south end of the Don River, as well as the ramp from the Gardiner Expressway to the Don Valley Parkway.

below: Eastern Ave and the DVP. Looking east.

below: Garfield the Cat just lying around

below: Northeast corner of Broadview and Eastern.

below: A row of old houses on Broadview still stand empty. It’s been years now since anyone has lived in them.

below: Just a bit north, at Queen Street East, another boarded up building. But this one is now in the middle of an active construction site.

below: In an alley behind Queen Street East.

below: A new view of Queen Street East has been opened up with the demolition of some of the buildings on the south side.

below: Northeast corner of Broadview and Queen East, once the home of Dangerous Dan’s.

below: Danger due to hole. On Queen East. The pyramid shaped roof is part of the Broadview Hotel at Queen and Broadview.

below: More danger…. watch out for spooky skeletons!

below: Riverside Common, a new public space on Queen Street East.

below: Looking back across the Don River from the bridge at Queen Street East.

below: Passing southbound under Queen Street East.

below: Looking north up Lower Bayview from Queen Street East

below: From almost the same vantage point as the photo above, but looking more west than north.

below: An Uber5000 yellow birdie on the wall of the Toronto Humane Society at Queen and River.

below: Painting of two fencers where the red wine seems to be winning.

below: Where Eastern Avenue meets Front Street, looking west towards downtown. The old brick building is now Toronto Police Services Division 51 headquaters. In a previous phase of its life it was Consumers Gas Station A, designed by Bond & Smith and built in 1898. Beyond Parliament Street and in the background is the blue Globe and Mail building.

below: The Porsche dealership on the northwest corner of Front and Parliament is now empty.

below: The southwest corner of Front and Parliament is entirely surrounded by plywood hoardings.

below: Another 33wallflower33 paste-up. This time she’s pinning Putin’s head to the ground.

below: And back to the Distillery District – and the new construction that is taking place at Front and Trinity, just north of the historic buildings.

on hoardings, Queen Street East

Posted: May 3, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: Chris Perez, Elicser, hoardings, luvs, moth, mural, painting, Phillip Saunders, Queen St. East, rabbit, raccoon, steam, still life, turtle

The construction hoardings on the south side of Queen Street East between Broadview and the Don River were painted back in the fall of 2021.

below: At the east end, a dear with a rack of antlers beside a young woman in a bright and cheerful orange head scarf.

below: A face by Philip Saunders.

below: Elicser people

below: Yellow tea (or coffee?) pot with citrus fruit, still life by steam reflected on a shiny metal plate.

below: Closer up of the pinkish eye of a white rabbit

below: A large brown turtle slowly ambles by

below: A pigeon never looked so majestic!

below: A moth is attracted by the lights of traffic by the Queen Street East bridge

below: Luvs almost makes this little raccoon look cute!

Clandestinos in a hidden corner

Posted: April 5, 2022 in graffiti and street art
Tags: baltimore oriole, blackberries, blueberries, Bruno Smoky, butterfly, cherry blossoms, clandestinos, raspberries, Shalak Attack

…. of downtown Toronto.

Shalak Attack and Bruno Smoky have painted another large colourful mural. This one features two women, a baltimore oriole, and many fruits and flowers.

below: Close up of the bird, a baltimore oriole

below: Adorned with leaves, flowers, and fruit – blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Lots of cherry blossoms and another bird too.

The Original Peace Treaty

Posted: April 4, 2022 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: Anishinaabe, colours, healing, indigenous, mural, peace, Que Rock, Quentin Commanda, TO Live, Turtle Island

There is a large mural (40′ x 50′) in downtown Toronto on the west wall of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on Front Street East. It was painted by Quentin Commanda, aka Que Rock.

below: Commanda’s “Artist Statement” – see below the picture to read the transcription.

Artist Statement:

This mural is meant to be a visual healing experience. The seven rings around Grandfather Sun represent the seven Grandfather teachings of the Anishinaabe people: Wisdom, Love, Humility, Respect, Honesty, Courage, and Truth. There are many layers of sacred geometry patterns on the mural.

The skyline includes the medicine-wheel teachings, Grandmother Moon and the 13 grandmother clan systems. The turtle shell represents North America’s creation story, the 13 full moons per year, and the seven grandfather teachings.

The entire mural also represents the original Peace Treaty of the Six Nations on Turtle Island (North America). The story of the Six Nations Treaty starts with the original five Nations of Turtle Island: the Plant Nation, the Insect Nation, the Bird Nation, the Fish Nation, and the Animal Nation. All five Nations had to agree to let the Human Nation live here on Mother Earth. All five Nations agreed to be humanity’s teachers and the Human Nation was invited to share the land.

The Human Nation was given instructions on how to live on Mother Earth, walk gentle on Mother Earth, learn one new thing every day, and share with one another. These are some of the original instructions given to the Anishinaabe people. The bear represents a Medicine Clan. The Mukwa (bear) is a healer, it is the only animal who communicates with all Six Nations.

The bottom panel represents my story from the past, present, and future. The first character with the microphone is the future and present me. The second character represents my past as a native child with my dog Miangun and the path of healing I have taken to decolonize myself back to the Anishinaabe child I was born to be.

My mother is a residential school survivor and so was my father. I am no different than the 215 children found in Kamloops, B.C. I survived to tell you this story and share my experiences. My community is still here and so am I.

The Artist is from Nbiising or Nipissing First Nation, his traditional name is Manitou Nemeen (Spirit Dancing) and he is from the Miangun Dodem (Wolf Clan).

The orange background on the mural represents the missing/murdered Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island.

The mural was commissioned by TO Live

generally Dundas, from McCaul to Augusta

Posted: March 26, 2022 in alleys, graffiti and street art, intersections, locations
Tags: AGO, alleys, anti war, Art Gallery of Ontario, Bellevue Park, Chinatown, Chinatown the Best, construction, Dundas West, graffiti, Jeremy Lynch, Jimmys Coffee, jumblefacefoto, Kensington, Krispy Kreme, lanes, Long Time No See, McCaul Street, OCADU, Our Lady Mount Carmel Church, pasteups, photography, portraits, Putin, Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, slaps, St. Patricks Church, stencils, stickers, T-bonez, urban ninja squadron, visual noise

Toronto is a city of surprises; a city of variety. If you are bored with one street, just walk another block or turn at the next intersection and chances are you’ll encounter something different. The scenery will change. For instance, on Dundas West you leave the downtown core just after University Ave., walk past OCADU, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Grange Park… next, through a section of Chinatown at Spadina and then immediately into the Kensington Market area. Just south of Kensington is the redevelopment of Alexandra Park…. and you’ve only walked a few blocks.

below: The newly renovated OCADU annex building on the southeast corner of Dundas and McCaul is now called the Rosalie Sharp Pavilion. The curve of the roof contrasts nicely with the sharp edges of the neighbouring buildings

below: The northeast corner of Dundas and McCaul is yet another hole in the ground. The Art Gallery of Ontario and Rosalie Sharp Pavilion are in the background. I am beginning to feel like a broken record player when I mention yet another condo construction site (tangent – is there a 21st century equivalent to “broken record player”?).

below: The demolition of the buildings on Dundas West opens up new views of St. Patricks RC Church.

below: Around the corner from St. Patricks, is Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and its bilingual signage and beautiful red door.

below: Krispy Kreme (yes, they still exist!) and Jimmys Coffee on McCaul in almost identical buildings. Like twins but with a dash of their own personality.

below: Thing 1 and Thing 2 running down the alley

below: …but not this alley. That’s a lot of stairs!

below: Each building has it’s own character from years of changes and modifications as people come and go. They may not be good looking but they are often unique – someone’s little piece of the city.

below: Front yard patio

below: Critters in the window

below: An old TTC streetcar loses its load. By the looks of it, this image will disappear once the ivy comes back to life in a few weeks.

below: Put together by the ‘Long Time No See Photo Project’, “Chinatown, the Best” is a collection of portraits that highlights seniors in the Chinatown area along with their thoughts and opinions on what makes Chinatown great.

below: The posters are on display over eight locations on Spadina and Dundas West.

Chinatown poster series on residents, in windows and door on Dundas

Left to right:
1. Come and work out in Chinatown.
2. Chinatown is my looking glass. Newcomers come thru finding support to enter Canada & I go back thru to understand where my ancestors and I come from. Keep Chinatown strong!
3. Chinatown is my ancestral village. In 1892 Great-Grandfather Charlie Yep laid down family roots in Montreal – but the early years of international racism gave way to self-loathing Kungfu? Chinesey food? Aiiyah!! Standing defiant in a martial arts pose is a testimony to overcoming my denial. I am Chinese-Quebecois Canadian. Au bout!
4. For making Chinatown the Best, Lily draws on her spiritual energy medicine knowledge to develop a healing relationship with the living landscape and its inhabitants to foster the restoration of the area’s sluggish energetic anatomy and amplify its vibrational health and wholeness.
5. deu say lin yeung im ah im duck!

below: In another Chinatown window is this display – pictures of food with four old black and white pictures.

below: The picture on the far right depicts Shanghai Bund and river waterfront so it is possible that the other photos are also of Shanghai? Or at least cities in China?

below: Another window with pictures – this time The Kensary, a cannabis store in Kensington.

below: A close up of part of the window showing Casa Loma, Roy Thomson Hall, Hughs Room, the El Mocambo, the Silver Dollar, Massey Hall, and gabled Victorian era houses

below: Hoardings on Spadina where a skeleton reaches out for passers-by.

below: Kensington view of the CN Tower

below: Facilities at Bellevue Park – more than just “all gender”

below: Wanted poster for Putin the war criminal

below: There’s at least one Maple Leafs fan left!

below: Jumblefacefoto collages

below: Alexandra Park redevelopment progresses. Dundas West is the northern edge of the 16 acre site owned by TCHC (Toronto Community Housing Corp). Most of the original units that were built in the 1960s are now gone.

below: Apparently it’s okay to be white. Actually it’s okay to be brown, or black, or any shade in between too.

below: Anarchist piano lessons?

below: “They say death takes you to a better place but I doubt it” Me? I’m in no hurry to find out.

snowy morning on Queen West

Posted: March 20, 2022 in alleys, graffiti and street art, landmarks, stores
Tags: alley, buildings, bus shelters, daisy, dolls, graffiti, Graffiti Alley, hoardings, Jeremy Lynch, jumblefacefoto, kode 905, kyara cabrera Fong, Life©️, lovebot, luvs, mannequins, murals, paint, pasteups, Poetaia, Queen West, Rush Lane, slaps, snow, Spadina, stickers, street art, streetcars, th!nk, TTC, uber5000, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, Windigo Army, winter

… and Graffiti Alley

below: Northeast corner of Spadina and Queen West

below: Mannequins on orange

below: Queen Street westbound approaching Bathurst

below: It’s always nice to see that there’s at least one Lovebot still hanging out in Graffiti Alley.

below: On the door, a jumblefacefoto collage

below: Reach out and touch someone

below: Open your eyes

below: Are you smiling? Are you happy?

below: Southeast corner, Queen & Niagara

below: Same intersection slightly later in the morning and from a slightly different angle

below: Windigo Army piece

below: A little orange character pasted to a pole; the work of kode_dipz aka Kyara Cabrera Fong

below: Because of the construction of a new condo at Richmond and Augusta there has been scaffolding in a section of Graffiti Alley. The other day some of it was being dismantled. This woman is more visible now but some of the bars remain.

below: Life©️ one eyed red daisy supersized

below: Part of UBER5000’s Toronto mural.

below: By luvs – a woman and her dog, with duplicate vision

below: A properly worn mask…..

What is creepier? Dolls or mannequins?

below: Poetaia wants to know what you’re up to, wink, wink.

below: Peeling paper makes the gold words difficult to read

below: There’s a yellow eye and possibly a blue one too?

Ukraine Invaded

Posted: March 15, 2022 in graffiti and street art
Tags: bird, blue and yellow, Graffiti Alley, MAGA, MRGA, mr_tensoe2, Nick Sweetman, Putin, Rush Lane, spyone, TwiceBorn, Ukraine, war

Two new murals have appeared in Graffiti Alley and Rush Lane, both in reaction to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia. First:

UPDATE: The above mural is a group effort. The bird, a nightingale, was painted by Nick Sweetman. That link should take you to an instagram post that describes the thinking behind the mural. It also lists mr_tensoe2, SpyOne, and TwiceBorn as the collaborators.

below: … and second, a painting that has already been scribbled on.

Queen East Leslieville

Posted: March 13, 2022 in graffiti and street art, locations, public art, stores
Tags: Boston Discount, Busy Street, Eldon Garnet, feelings boi, graffiti, Jeremy Lynch, jumblefacefoto, Leslieville, Queen & Jones Pawnbrokers, Thomas Sowell, Time and a Clock

below: Leslieville mural on the west wall of Dave’s Hot Chicken, Queen Street East location.

below: I spotted a very similar piece of paper downtown but with words about knowledge and ignorance (see previous blog post). I wonder how many of these are tacked up around the city? These words can be attributed to American economist and social theorist, Thomas Sowell (b. 1930).

stapled to a notice board on the sidewalk is text graffiti with words about responsibility

“We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody’s responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.”

below: Beside Jimmy Simpson Park there are four stainless steel pennants, each with a word – coursing, disappearing, trembling, and returning. These are part of a series of three installations called “Time and a Clock” by Eldon Garnet in the area.

below: Jumblefacefoto collage paste-ups.

below: Boston Discount Store with it’s red and white KitKat advert

below: posters and protests and one very muscular man three times.

below: Queen and Jones Pawnbrokers

below: Eddie’s Convenience with a range of tests available. I first read it as though Eddie was also selling pregnancy tests!

below: It’s now been 2 years since COVID was declared a pandemic.

below: Queen East mishmash of rooflines. Newer boxy construction butting up against older original half gables with their gingerbread still intact.

below: In a lovely older brick building with little architectural details, Fortune Smoke & Gifts Store along with Butchers of Distinction

below: Busy Street runs parallel to Queen, one block north. It was once a very busy street.

But now it is much quieter. Some of the buildings on the north side were once stables for the teams of draft horses that delivered the goods from the nearby Queen Street stores.

below: The horses have long disappeared and the buildings have been repurposed.

below: Another little upper storey addition above Cask Music and Samaira’s.

below: Moving up in an alley

below: Ubiquitous

below: Feelings boi graffiti paste-up

a touch of spring

Posted: March 12, 2022 in graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, public art, reflections
Tags: Anish Kapoor, art, Camilla Teodoro, CIBC Square, CN Tower, Compartment Earth, construction, covid vaccination, Esmaa Mohamoud, fence, hoardings, Light Stolen from the Sun, live again, Louis Agassiz, Love Park, posters, Queens Quay West, reflections, Renty, Rentyhorn, Roxy Paine, Sasha Huber, sculpture, Steve Driscoll, The Brotherhood FUBU, the power plant, traffic cones, Visoleil, windows

It seems like it’s been a long winter with more extended periods of colder temperatures as well as never ending snow. Last weekend was the first sign that maybe spring would arrive this year …. before the snow came back! Here are a few things that I saw on my walk last Sunday while out enjoying some warm sunshine.

below: A sign of the times; a sign for the coming spring.

below: There is still a large parking lot on the corner of Rees and Queens Quay. It may be the last piece of undeveloped property along this part of the waterfront.

below: Clearing away the piles of snow.

below: The skating rink beside the Power Plant is melting quickly. The designs painted on the concrete below provide a bright contrast to the towers of glass and steel nearby.

below: Same spot as above but this time looking northwest.

below: On the south wall of The Power Plant, a large image of the artist, Sasha Huber, on top of a Swiss mountain.

large picture on the outside, south, wall of the The Power Plant. A picture of the artist, Sasha Huber, planting a sign and plaque for Rentyhorn, renaming a Swiss mountain.

“Rentyhorn” (2008) is part of a campaign to rename Agassizhorn, a Swiss mountain peak. Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) was a Swiss glaciologist who became convinced that Blacks were an inferior species and that he could prove it. Renty was an enslaved woman who was one of a group forcibly photographed by Agassiz in his attempt to prove his theory. There is more of this story, and more of Huber’s work, on display in the gallery.

below: Reflections and distortions in the windows of The Power Plant.

below: Queens Quay

below: “Compartment Earth” in the lobby of RBC WaterPark Place building on Queens Quay. It is 16,000 pounds of stainless steel; a sculpture by American artist Roxy Paine.

below: Work continues on the park, Love Park, that replaces the old York Street exit ramp from the Gardiner Expressway.

below: Esmaa Mohamoud‘s large image titled: ” The Brotherhood FUBU (For Us, By Us)” covers 37 x 144 feet (or 11 x 44 metres).

below: Looking up to the blue sky.

below: Part art, part health, this is “Visoleil” in the lobby of the new CIBC Square. A glowing circle of light to lift the spirits during the grey of a Toronto winter. I went on a Sunday and the doors were locked so I couldn’t get closer. Unfortunately, it’s probably gone by now as it was scheduled to be removed on 11th March.

below: Also at CIBC Square, “Light Stolen from the Sun” by Steve Driscoll. This new CIBC building on (by the new GO Station and across from Union Station) has been under construction for a few years now. It isn’t quite finished.

below: Looking through the front window you can catch a glimpse of this magnificent piece of backlit glass. Apparently there are twelve. This is something that I am definitely going to come back to see!