Initiated in 2017, the “Bridges to Art” program envisions murals on nine underpasses in Toronto’s east end. Several of the murals along the Carlaw-Dundas corridor have been painted including this one on Jones Avenue just north of Gerrard. It was painted by Jason Pinney and features scenes from the east end.
below: “88 Keys of Light”, a collaboration between Edward Platero and Kristyn Watterworth
below: Southeast corner, Queen St East and Woodbine Ave
below: A cheerful dalmatian stands outside Firehall 227
below: Mural, “Greetings from the Beach” by Elise Goodhoofd
below: A Lovebot sticker
below: Don’t tell her that her head is empty.
below: Another Starbucks gone.
below: faded to yellow
below: Another Luminosity installation, “Headlights”, by Collective Memory aka Robert McKaye and Stoyan Barakov
below: About an hour later….
below: Mural by John Kuna painted in 2019. It replaced an earlier mural (2007, by Rudolf Stussi) that had deteriorated.
below: Part of a mural, Scarborough Amusement Park, by Daniel Seagrave, 2008
below: Above the entrance to an empty store.
below: One of many hearts shining in the windows.
below: Looking in other windows too.
below: “Share the Love”, Thelia Sanders Shelton
below: Part of “Beacon Silo” by Chris Foster
below: Same installation but from across the street
below: “Out from under the Shadows”, by Bryan Faubert. Light passes through cutouts in the metal plate to make shadow pictures on the wall.
below: Firehall 227 with it’s clock tower
below: Open doors, Firehall 227
First, a quick Latin translation lesson
1. Ad perniciem solet agi sinceritas is Latin for “Honesty is often goaded to ruin”, a quote from Phaedrus
2. Bibere venenum in auro, another Latin phrase and it means “drink poison from a gold cup”.
3. Fortuna caeca est translates to “Fortune is blind.” from Cicero (died 43 BC, he was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and philosopher who wrote extensively).
4. Pulvis et umbraa sumus equals “We are dust and shadow” from Horace (died 8 B.C., a Roman poet)
5. Graviora manent – greater dangers await, or the worst is yet to come
These Latin words, and more, were all found here:
below: A closer view
All of the following were on the same utility pole surrounded by a lot of old staples and tacks.
below: A crown with 12 + 1 + 1/2 = 13 1/2 fastened with an 8 point, or double square, screw.
below: Another 13 1/2, this time with with PJD and a fountain at the top of a building
below: Similar architecture is repeated in the next piece, but now it is a taller building with more than a fountain on top – it looks like a pineapple, or a grenade with fireworks.
below: In memory of Dudley George who died at Ipperwash, shot by the OPP. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but the screws resemble bullet holes.
below: The domed building appears to be upside down. The rain drops are “falling” the wrong way. Is that symbolic? Or because only one screw is holding it in place and it slipped?
below: It’s difficult to see, but there are a lot of words on the light metal piece too, but not in Latin. There is also a bird whose feathers are made from Us and Vs.
below: “I loved you” is written on the side of the piece of metal. You’ll have to take my word for it, but the other side of the metal says “Too little too late”.
below: And last, just a plain X. Unfortunately, it’s like someone who signs their name by making an X as I have no idea whose artwork this is. Do you know?
And let’s hope that the worst is not yet to come!
Good morning!
And welcome to another Toronto blog post! This time, it’s all about reading material found on the street recently. In a lot of ways, it’s a snapshot of some of the issues and concerns that occupy us at this particular moment in time.
Papers on boxes, papers on poles, and papers on walls. Protests. Advertisements. Words. Car caravan protest; Take back the night; call Jacki. A potpourri of thoughts and causes. An abundance of opinions and objectives.
below: 62nd Tibetans National Uprising Day, March 10th. In March of 1959, there was an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in which about 87,000 people died; it was at this time that the Dalai Lama fled to India (in the Himalayas) where he has lived in exile ever since.
below: Khaleel Seivwright is a carpenter who has been constructing tiny shelters. Some of the funds for the project come from a GoFundMe campaign. These structures have been placed in encampments for the homeless in parks and on other city-owned land but back in February, the city filed an injunction to stop the shelters on city property.
below: Another poster concerning the shortfalls of social housing in this city. As the average cost of house in the GTA hovers around a million dollars, there is a growing lack of affordable housing.
below: Cops aren’t workers – no police unions
below: Defund the police by 50% and invest in community supports and services – on top. And on the bottom, Disco 3000, a weekly (Thursday nights) radio show on Parkdale Private Radio.
below: Covid lockdown protest
below: We got a problem – Because the ones who are causing the problem don’t want us to know what it is.” The people named are all conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.
below: A quote from Maya Angelou: “Nothing will work unless you do”
below: A few survive – “Radical simply means ‘Grasping things at the root’ Angela Davis. Plus, My body; my choice.
below: In Parkdale a lot of the posters have been cut down leaving mysterious bits behind. The words here are written in a different alphabet and I have no idea what the poster was advertising or promoting.
below: Beside the stairs – Free Hong Hong; Free Tibet
Most people who visit Graffiti Alley don’t realize that there is another section of street art to the west. Technically, Graffiti Alley is the lane behind the south side of Queen Street West between Spadina and Augusta. The next section of the alley, from Augusta to Portland, is Rush Lane. Unfortunately there is a large Loblaws/Winners that blocks the lane on the west side of Portland.
To access the next couple of blocks of laneway, you have to detour down to Richmond Street and turn right. Public Lane is a few steps away from Richmond & Portland.
below: Public Lane turns to the left, regardless of what the arrow says.
below: Between here and Bathurst Street, a lot of street art has disappeared as redevelopment of Richmond has progressed. The large black building on the right has its garage entrance from the lane so watch for cars when you’re back there.
below: A few circles of colour on a grey wall, a reminder that there was once street art here.
below: Beyond Bathurst there is a long stretch of laneway. A lot of the paintings here are older and some may have already appeared in this blog.
below: A 2020 mural by Elicser Elliot
below: Huey Newton by elicser
below: Feelings Boi and a pink daisy from Life©
below: Woodstock love
below: By luvsomone
below: Yosemite Sam is now boxed in.
below: A resting UBER 5000 yellow birdie. Or is that a yoga mat?!
below: This little unicorn has always been a favorite of mine. Definitely an oldie now.
below: Collaboration between luvsomone, vuducats/Christina Mazzulla
below: Mural by Rodwell Soller
below: Happy face skulls
Birch Cliff, where one of the predominant themes is birch trees.
Such as this mural on the side of the public school.
The other theme in this stretch of Kingston Road seems to be the blue and white Toronto notice of development signs and the consequent empty buildings.
The old….
… and the new. This is the only building that is close to being finished. If the drawings on the development signs are to be believed, there will be several more in the neighbourhood just like it in a couple of years time.
below: Kingston Road is quite close to Lake Ontario. At this point the only thing between the road and the water is the grounds and golf course of The Toronto Hunt Club, a private members only club.
below: On the side of Legion 13 on Kingston Road is this large mural. Painted in memory of Max Silverstein, by John Hood with help from Alexandra Hood and Asif Khan, 1991. Restored in 2010 by Blinc Studios. It’s also part of the Heritage Trail murals, a Mural Routes project.
Plaque beside the mural says: “Scarborough Rifle Company marching to the Niagara Frontier, June 1, 1866. In 1862 the Scarborough Rifle Company was organized with headquarters in a school at Eglinton Avenue near Markham Road. It was the first of several militia companies formed in York County. The company was rushed to the Niagara frontier three times in 1865 and 1866 to defend Canada against the Fenians. The Scarborough Rifle Company later became No. 1 Company in the 12th Battalion of Infantry, the forerunner of Queen’s York Rangers.”
.
below: A smaller mural on the right hand side of the above one features portraits of two men, Captain Norris and Lieutenant Taber, soldiers in the Fenian Raids of 1866.
below: Another Heritage Trail mural – “Mitchells General Store” by Phil Irish, 1998. Mitchells store was one of the first businesses established in the Birch Cliff area. The same store is mentioned in another Scarborough history mural just a bit north on Warden Avenue (see Scarborough Bells)
below: An elaborate home for the birds with a tiny outpost below.
below: Ready for social distancing when you’re feeling down in the dumps.
below: Buster’s ready to play
below: This guy needs a beer
below: Looking in a window – framed pictures, old records, a trunk and a tripod.
below: A Beckers store, you don’t have to be that old to remember Beckers do you? The original Beckers Milk Company was founded in 1957; they had five convenience stores that were open 7 days a week, 14 hours a day. By 2006 when the company was sold to Alimentation Couche-Tard, there were 500 stores. Most were converted to Macs convenience stores stores. In 2013 the Beckers label was brought back and apparently there are now 45 Beckers stores.
below: St. Nicholas Anglican church, opened 1917.
below: An idea for a future walk!
Sandown Lane runs behind the buildings on the north side of Kingston Road, west of Midland Avenue in Scarborough.
I was walking here because I was on the lookout for a series of murals by B.C. Johnson that have been painted over the past few years.
B.C. Johnson is the person responsible for first painting the rainbow arch beside the Don Valley Parkway – way back in the 1970’s. I blogged about the Moccasin Trail, which leads to the arch, last year. Just in case you’ve never seen it, here it is from last fall:
Back to Sandown Lane….
below: A deer with large antlers, a man fishing.
below: Sunflowers and butterflies by the gate on a (real) door.
below: Waterfalls
below: That’s an inventive way to advertise your handyman business!
While I was in the area, I walked back along Kingston Road.
I have walked this portion of Kingston Road before. There are many large Mural Routes paintings of historic Scarborough scenes. They can be seen in the 2017 blog post, Cliffside murals, so I won’t repeat them here except for this one photo: ‘H.M. Schooner, Onondaga c. 1793’ by Jeff Jackson 1992.
below: Back in 2017 this was a sushi restaurant and it was covered on all four sides by ‘Let’s Take a Walk on the Wildside’ painted by B.C. Johnson the year previously. Some of the scenes from that mural can be same in the same Cliffside blog post linked to above.
below: Tara Inn, the Irish Pub, beside the Banglabazar Supermarket.
below: St Pauls United Church, near the west end of Sandown Lane.
below: A Roman Catholic church, Saint Theresa, Shine of the Little Flower at Midland and Kingston Road. The church was built in 1966 to replace a smaller one, also built in a Spanish style, from 1933. The Church was dedicated as a Shrine in honour of St Therese of Lisieux, a saint who had been canonized in 1925.
UPDATE:
Two developments on Kingston Road will impact this stretch of the lane. First, an 8 storey mixed use building at 2448-2450 (the Cat Hospital) as well as a slightly shorter 6 storey mixed use development at 2380-2382 (a vacant lot, Wongs Martial Arts). Both developments have had their site plans approved at city council.
A mild January turned into a frigid February but that shouldn’t slow us down should it? So I bundled up and drove to Mimico to meet a friend – what? we haven’t seen each other for over a year? 2020 has taken its toll. At least it’s easier wearing masks in cold weather!
below: Two murals by Jim Bravo. On the right, “Down Creek Way” 2012. On the left, “Morning Ice Harvest” 2014. Both are part of the Lakeshore Arts Project
below: A watery mural with a large duck bottom as it paddles by on the side of Birds and Beans Coffee Shop. Another Lakeshore Arts Project; it was designed by Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson and painted with the help of a crew of youth & community members coordinated by Paula McDines.
below: Mural on the side of Calibreze Pizza on Lakeshore Blvd.
The northern boundary is the Gardiner Expressway. Here, stairs from the street running parallel to the Gardiner up to Royal York Road before it becomes a bridge over the expressway.
below: Signs on the outside
below: … and old photos on the inside. Jimmys Coffee, Royal York Road. Hanging out inside was verboten but a few minutes of warmth was appreciated.
below: Who can resist a unicorn poop cookie?
below: Signs of Covid. Prior to the most recent lockdown there was talk about “big box stores” being allowed to stay open while smaller businesses had to close. At the moment, even “big box stores” are closed.
below: Bag full of work.
below: Moooooove me…. I’m tired of getting splattered with slush when cars get too close!
below: A cold and wet seat.
below: Just out of the picture, and making a lot of noise, was the same dog that’s in this picture.
below: Tibetan prayer flags adorn the fence. Each colour represents an element; white symbolizes air, red is fire., green is water, yellow is earth, and blue is wind. They also represent directions – North, South, East, West and Center. As the flags flutter in the wind, they emit positive spiritual vibrations enabling the wind to carry away the prayers and wishes. As the prayers drift away, the colours fade.
below: Mimico is home to a large GO facility, the Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility. It didn’t look too inviting! It might be worth some research so that on a warmer, sunnier day we could go exploring.
below: It’s difficult to see, but the door on the left has a “women” sign on it. His and hers.
What had started as a sunny morning, turned into a grey low-light so we headed to the lake to see if we could find more sun, or at least better light.
below: Part of Humber College Lakeshore Campus. These buildings were built in the late 1880s as “cottages”, part of the Mimico Asylum (later known as the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital). Almost a hundred years later the site was shut down. At that time, there were 280 patients, down from a peak of 1,390 in 1950.
below: The site was leased to Humber in 1991 and since then these four buildings have been completely renovated to suit Humber’s needs.
below: Humber College is surrounded on three sides by Colonel Sam Smith park and one of the features of the park is an outdoor skating loop. This year, online registration is needed for a time slot at all rinks – unless you’re lucky enough to arrive when others have cancelled or have been unable to show up. (As an aside – they have a washroom for weary walkers in need!)
Another feature of the park are the waterfront trails along the shores of Lake Ontario.
below: Comfy sofa at the ready?
We never did find more light that morning. But if you’re in the mood for hot chocolate bombs or other sweet goodies we might have found the place for you!
below: As I was driving home after the walk, I came across this scene:
below: Dynamic Duo so to speak, a T-bonez Robin to a Batman of a different sort.
below: A collection of stickers and pastups – urban ninja squadron (TCF), spud, a blue Bentoghoul, and others
below: There is love in this lane
as well as broken hearts
below: Playing games with Psiconauta on a pole while the little purple figure gives a peace sign.
below: T-bonez clad in pink and red with T-smoke on his back.
below: Stay warm folks!
below: …. and a spudbomb too
below: Flower Power. Many daisies by Life© popping up in Graffiti Alley (or at least they look like daisies). “Consciousness watching the world”.
below: Until next time… keep your eyes open!
Welcome to Kensington market!
It’s very different here before the stores open and there aren’t many people out and about.
below: Do you remember Mr. Cod and Chinese Leader Mao?
below: Fancy bath tubs galore on the shower curtain in the window.
below: Yin and yang in the corner with tbonez and Cosmo Cam
as I walk Toronto 