In an alley to the southeast of Huron St. and Dundas West is a mural of the Great Wall of China. It is 147 feet long (almost 45 m) and 12 feet high.
Chinatown BIA.
Mural painted by Blinc Studios artists: Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Rick Sauve, Brian Broders, Jesse McQuaig and Ming Lau.
Painted in the summer of 2013.
Located at the northwest corner of Regent Park Blvd and St. David St.,
(which is south of Dundas East and east of Sackville)
painted on the wood hoardings around a construction site.
This wall was painted as part of The Patch Project
PATCH = “Public Art Through Construction Hoarding”
Unfortunately, one photo that is missing is one of the section of the wall that is a large section that says “Conquer Adversity with Diversity”, the title of this work.
More information on The Patch Project
Graffiti in a Cabbagetown lane.
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Behind 509 Dance, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre on Parliament Street.
Chinatown Mural
2011 by Alexa Hatanaka and Aaron Li-Hill
Commissioned by the Chinatown BIA & located in an alley near Dundas & Spadina.
The mural is based on scenes from everyday life in Toronto’s Chinatown.
Amnesty International Toronto Organization is a group that works in the to raise public awareness of human rights issues. One of the projects that it supports is Urban Canvas. Thirty murals were planned, each based on one of the thirty articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Art Alley Mural Project produced by Arts Etobicoke in 2010 was designed by Susan Rowe Harrison and painted by William Lazos. It incorporates a poem by Dionne Brand, Toronto’s Poet Laureate in 2010 that is based on Article 13. This article states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.”
The mural is on the wall of 4893A Dundas St. West, alongside a narrow pedestrian walkway.
See also a previous post on two of Urban Canvas project murals at Parma Court
Also, a mural celebrating education, article 26.
As you walk east on Wellesley towards Church St., you can’t miss the large mural on the side of Ho’s Team Barber and Hairstylist. The red circle with it’s white words “I’m One Too” catch your attention. The mural, by Will Craddock, is part of the Church Street Mural Project.
The circles in the mural are paintings of buttons from the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives.
There is actually a small lane that runs beside the button mural. If you walk a little but down that lane and then look at the wall on the other side, you will see another artwork from the Church Street Mural Project. ‘Kiss and Tell’ by Natalie Wood is a series of silhouette couples with their heads close together, either talking or kissing.
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There will probably always be some controversy surrounding graffiti and and street art. Some people like it and some don’t. There is street art with a lot of artistic merit. There are a number of drab grey places in the city that are improved by adding street art.
Graffiti is temporary by nature. Time and weather affect it. Sometimes it evolves over time as others add stickers or comments. This is a strength and a weakness. All it takes is a marker or a can of spray paint to make your mark on a wall, a doorway, or any surface you want for that matter. Unfortunately, there are people who destroy rather than create.
There are many examples of the juvenile nature of some taggers so these are just a few.
Stupid and clueless. The mural on Croft street commemorating the Fire of 1904 has also been tagged over.
Great comment. Written on a black and white tag that was painted on top of a street art picture
The City of Toronto has a Graffiti Management Plan.
They try to encourage Graffiti Art while getting rid of Graffiti Vandalism.
Where the West Toronto Railpath meets Dundas West. The graffiti and street art that were here were painted over with grey paint, probably by the city.
The Bathhouse Raids by Christiano De Araujo is a mural on Church Street just south of Carlton.
Completed in the fall of 2013, it was the largest of the Church St. Mural Project pieces commissioned for WorldPride 2014.
The following photos were taken with a very wide angle lens
because of the size of the mural and because there are always cars parked in front of it.
On the 5th of February, 1981, Toronto police raided four bathhouses in what was known as ‘Operation Soap’.
Around 300 men were arrested. Most charges connected to the incident were eventually dropped or discharged, although some bathhouse owners were fined.
The event marked a major turning point in the history of the LGBT community in Canada.
The raids led to protests – the night after the raids, 3,000 people marched on 52 Division police headquarters and on Queen’s Park, smashing car windows and setting fires. That spring the city held its first Pride Parade.
Graffiti on a wall on Queen St. West
at the west side of Trinity Bellwoods park.
Unfortunately, there is now an ugly black tag on the lower left corner.
I walked around the corner and down a small dead end lane and this is what I saw.
near St. Clair West
as I walk Toronto 