Archive for the ‘locations’ Category

Queen, Soho, Bulwer

Posted: July 14, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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It’s good to see the ‘Hug Me!’ tree is still on Queen Street!

large tree stump with some of the large branches, painted an orangish brown colour with a face and the words 'hug me' on a downtown sidewalk inToronto (Queen Street West)

If you look closely in the background of the above photo, you can spot the reason I was exploring this section of Queen St West (near Soho St).  Along the wall by the parking lot is a new mural.

below:  Floating man, floating down the river with an photo from the past clutched in his hand.  “Tona as Marty McFly Disappearing Photos” by Elicser Elliott.  It is another of the Love Letter to the Great Lakes project murals.

mural of a man lying on his back in the water, words written in red Tona as Marty McFly

There were two other Love Letter murals that I came here to find.

below: If you look up as you walk along Queen Street West you might catch a glimpse of this mural by JAZ (Franco Fasoli).  Arms, or tentacles, seem to be reaching out of the water and strangling the fish.

mural on an upper storey wall, viewed from the street so you can't see the whole thing. A fish seems be strangled by tentacles in the water

below: The third mural is around the corner from the other two, on Bulwer Street.  It’s a large portrait of David Suzuki painted by Kevin Ledo.  The blue shapes on the right are outlines of fish (atlantic salmon apparently) but I cut their tails off when I took the picture.

a large mural with the centerpiece being a portrait of David Suzuki

below: I haven’t walked along Bulwer St for a while so it was nice to see that this (unsigned?) mural is still there even though someone has spray painted some words on it.

mural on the side of a building, kids playing

below: One last little find on Bulwer, a circuit board stikman

a little stikman covered with circuit board symbols, missing part of his head, on a door frame outside,

Other posts about the Love Letter to the Great Lakes project murals:

  1. love letters in paint
  2. seawalls and serpents
  3.  at the mouth of the Don

 

#seawallsTO | #pangeaseed | #loveletterprojects

at the mouth of the Don

Posted: July 13, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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street art painting of a blue fish on light blue background, stylized

Today I walked the southern part of the Lower Don River trail.  It’s not the most relaxing place to walk even though the path follows the river.  I have a habit of absentmindedly meandering and I didn’t want to meander right into a cyclist on the narrow shared path.   There was constant background noise from the cars and trucks on the nearby Don Valley Parkway but it was the GO trains that made the most noise as they rumbled right beside me.  Yes, you are correct, it’s not my favorite place to walk.  But I also knew that there was a reward near the end of the trail.

Near the ‘mouth of the Don River’ (in reality, where the Don River turns into the Keating Channel), there are some new murals on the bents supporting the ramps between the DVP and the Gardiner Expressway.  They are part of the Love Letter to the Great Lakes project.   A previous blog post, love letters in paint, concerned the murals from this project that were painted near Ossington and Queen West.

below: If you approach the area from the north, this is the first bent that you see.  All sides of it have been painted by Kirsten McCrea.  If you are driving south on the Don Valley Parkway and you exit to the Gardiner westbound, you drive right over this, and the next few, bents.  In case you haven’t guessed, a bent is that concrete support thingy holding up the road.

a bent supporting an offramp has been covered in a bright mural, grass and weeds grow in front, the river is behind, a small tree also in the picture

below: The other side of the McCrea mural is in the background, behind the bent that has been painted by PA System (Patrick Thompson and Alexa Hatanaka).  Amongst the swirly watery  shapes there is a face near the top.  Extra bit: The guy on the bike stopped to take a photo too.

A swirl of colours makes a mural of faces and hands and watery things, on a bent under the Don Valley Parkway

below: The other side of the PA System bent. A large fish fits perfectly in the upper portion while a hand reaches up from the vertical part.

A very large fish is painted across the top of a bent, and a hand is on the vertical part, with finger tips pointed upwards.

below: The work of MC Baldassari who is currently from Montreal.

concrete support, or bent, under a ramp has been painted with a mural based on a large dark blue triangle

below:  The other side of the above bent.  It looks like the woman has come through the pillar.

concrete support, or bent, under a ramp has been painted with a mural based on a woman's head coming through a large dark blue triangle

below: A woman with a mouse in her hand and a flower in her hair kneels beside the foxes,
a mural painted by EGR (Erica Balon).   In the background you can see a much taller bent that has been painted blue.   This bent is on a different ramp, the ramp that you would find yourself on if you were driving east on the Gardiner and then exiting to the DVP.  It has been painted by Jason Botkin and it includes the word Wonscotanach.  Apparently that was the First Nations name for the river before John Graves Simcoe came along in 1790 and decided to call it the Don River.

A mural on a bent in an underpass, a young woman is kneeling. She is holding a mouse in one hand. Two foxes stand beside her.

below: There are more animals on the other sides, along with a city lit up in the night in the background of the mural.   Raccoon, rabbit and a pink butterfly fluttering past.

2 bents covered with murals. In the foreground, the mural is dark blue, with a pink butterfly, a rabbit, a mouse and a raccoon.

woman holding a mouse in a mural on a bent in the foreground, with another bent in the background, a mural of water and topless red women walking or standing in the water

below: Rajni Perera‘s mural features red and yellow women walking or standing in the water.

part of a mural of water and topless red women either walking or standing in the water

below: Looking back

a cyclist rides past 4 bents under the Don Valley Parkway that have been painted with murals as part of the Love Letter to the Great Lakes project.

below: A collaborative effort by Jarus and Kwest beside the Don Valley trail, just north of the other murals.

large sea creature painted on a mural on a concrete wall.

below:  And one last photo before leaving the area… a quick note sprayed on a concrete support.

rough spray painted words 'Hi Love' on a concrete support on a railing by a river.

same, same, but different

Posted: July 8, 2016 in locations
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A week or so ago I explored a lot of little alleys and lanes in Seaton village.  Once upon a time it was a village, named for John Colborne, 1st Baron Seaton, who was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada from 1828 to 1836.  The land here was originally settled and farmed by loyalists Colonel David Shank and Captain Samuel Smith.   Eventually, George Crookshank acquired the property and he laid out the plans for a village here in the 1850’s; it wasn’t developed until around 1888 when the area was annexed by the City of Toronto.

Today it is the rectangular section of Toronto north of Bloor street to the CNR train tracks by Dupont and between Bathurst and Christie streets.  It is part of The Annex.

When I started to write this blog post my plan was to focus on how all lanes are the same yet different.  Their characteristics usually reflect the neighbourhood around them and the way the lanes are used.  Every lane has a personality.

below: Vermouth Lane, one of the greenest lanes I’ve seen in Toronto.  Why?  Probably because there are no garages in the lane, except for the two that were beside me when I took this picture.  The backyards that are on this lane are not big.  There are one or two houses that have made room in their backyard for a car, but that takes up most of the space.  The lane itself is also rather narrow.

a lane with old wood fences and a lot of green, trees, weeds, ivy on the fences, shrubs beside the lane. narrow lane

below: In contrast,  Col David Shank Lane (there’s that name again!) ends at a wide alley behind the stores and services on Dupont.  It’s a working alley.

wide lane behind Dupont Street in Toronto, an old car is parked there, back of an auto repair shop, sturdy looking two storey brick buildings.

But that’s only stating the obvious, isn’t it?

On a brown metal door, a white line drawing of a grinning face with many teeth and semi circular eyes

Like the city around them, lanes are a mix of old and new, interesting and bland, plus well kept and neglected.

from a lane, two garages, a wood fence painted faded green between the garages, the tops of the houses can be seen behind.

They are the less public side of city life.

backyard, and back of an old building that has been boarded up. The ashphalt shingles on the back of the building are torn , there is a graffiti face painted on one wall

below: As I looked for things that make alleys different, I kept finding little details like the old blue plant pot with its contrasting orange wall.

A planter in blues and blacks with a partially dead and drooping plant sits beside an old wall that has been painted bright orange. The wall behind the plant is brown.

below: The textures and bright colours in the design made by aging paint on a garage door caught my eye.

part of red garage with paint starting to peel where blue lines have been sprayed on.

below: A vegetable garden dominates the backyard.

the back of a house and its backyard which has been planted with a vegetable garden.

below: A simple plant in a window in Tandy Murch Lane.  Walter Tandy Murch (1907-1967) was a painter who was born and raised in the area.  His mother, Louise Murch (nee Tandy), was a popular singing teacher

white door on white wall. Someone has drawn a window on the door with a plant in the window. Bottom of wall is red, three black horizontal stripes on the wall, one vertical blue pipe on the left side

below: Through a hole in the wood, a glimpse of what lies beyond.

an old wood fence, unpainted, rusty nails, with a hole in it. Looking through the hole is part of a window but it's out of focus

below:  Abandoned plumbing fixtures lead to all kinds of jokes – outdoor plumbing

a white toilet, with a lid, sitting beside a yellow painted brick wall with weeds growing up beside the toilet, in a lane

below: A once proud tree

a big dead tree with the tops of the branches cut off, in a backyard, view from the lane behind, including the three storey building on the property

below: A garage door that stands alone and not in a row with others.

an old garage at the end of a backyard of a small white house, lane view, chainlink fence, well kept lawn, no trespassing signs, signs saying pick up after your pet, five signs in all,

below: Possibly a Rorschach test?  A brown face is what I see.  Do you?

a brown stencil of a man's face on a wood fence but the paint was a bit heavily applied and there are some paint blobs

below: And another test – can you find the paintbrush?
Not sure how it got there!  Or how it’s staying there!

a used paintbrush is lying under the eaves of an old shed that is a mottled pale green and pale blue, branches of a tree and its leaves partially block the paint brush from view

below: This could become a game.  An “I Spy” kind of game.  I spy a face.

part of an old blue garage beside part of an old reddish and green garage, the shape of the faded paint on the blue, looks like a ghostly face

below: Or perhaps we could play peek-a-boo?

looking through the gap between two garages in a lane, into a backyard with a chair on the lawn, and a ladder and steps that look like a ladder up to a door at the second storey level

And this is where I am going to leave you…. until another day when I walk more lanes and find more little details, more differences, to make me smile.  And then we’ll play again!

The End

close up of a wood pole beside a white garage. Written in capital letters, black ink, is the word Amen

hoardings engineered

Posted: July 6, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Construction hoardings around the site of the new new Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CEIE) at the University of Toronto have been painted with a wonderful mural.   Back in the spring I took some photos of it.

 

part of a mural on an artwall on hoardings around a construction site for a new engineering building at the University of Toronto, a rainbow W, a yellow lego block, two workmen in hard hats, a crane, a T, a red maple leaf

This artwall installation is a collaboration between U of T Engineering and graffiti artist Jason Wing (SKAM).  The mural features many things that engineers do, from the things that are unique to U of T Engineering to those that apply to engineers around the world.

part of a mural on an artwall on hoardings around a construction site for a new engineering building at the University of Toronto, older building behind, long stretch of the mural in the picture

below: Batteries, circuit boards, robots and DNA.  The robot cat is Tangy, a bingo playing robot and one of the many assistive robots developed at U of T.

part of a mural on an artwall on hoardings around a construction site for a new engineering building at the University of Toronto, a robot cat

below: Astronats in space and the Lady Godiva Memorial Band.  The band is part of the engineering school and it will be getting a new music room to practice in as part of the new building.   That symbol that looks like NY but isn’t – that’s pronounced ‘en sci’ and is the abbreviation for  U of T’s Engineering Science program.

part of a mural on an artwall on hoardings around a construction site for a new engineering building at the University of Toronto, two musicians and an astronaut floating in space

below: The Nanoleaf bulb, one of the world’s most energy efficient bulbs is shown along with wind turbines and solar cells.  Wind and solar energy are two of the many research interests of the CEIE.

part of a mural on an artwall on hoardings around a construction site for a new engineering building at the University of Toronto, a young man painted on the mural as well as a fancy LED lightbulb and two wind turbines.

below:  The Ye Olde Mighty Skule Cannon is the official mascot of U of T Engineering.   The equation coming out of the cannon is the formula used to calculate power.  Also in this part of the mural is a river and a faucet to represent the Institute for Water Innovation which is part of the CEIE.

 

part of a mural on an artwall on hoardings around a construction site for a new engineering building at the University of Toronto, an older building behind, a volleyball player on the mural as well as two students sitting on the ground and looking at a laptop

below: A TTC streetcar and a traffic light are in the artwall to represent the fact that U of T engineers partner with cities worldwide to improve transportation infrastructure.

part of a mural on an artwall on hoardings around a construction site for a new engineering building at the University of Toronto, new TTC streetcar in the mural as well as some musicians, an astronaut floating in space

a small square window cut into painted construction hoardings

singing birds, the devil, and more

Posted: June 21, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Running east from Christie subway station behind the stores on Bloor West is an alley.  There are a few murals there, either in the lane or visible from the lane.   Below are pictures of five of them, although the last one is more graffiti than mural.

The largest of these murals is ‘Under the Radar’, or at least those are the words painted on the mural.  It is on three sides of a building that backs onto the alley.

below: East side of the building

The side of a building is painted with a mural of birds sitting on a wire. Purple, black and blue are the colours in the mural.

part of a mural, blackbirds sitting on a wire, dark blue background, on a brick building in an alley

below: The back of the building

Under the Radar mural on the back of a building in an alley, featuring birds, with baseball caps, with colourful shoes and sitting on branches of a large tree

Under the Radar mural on the back of a building in an alley, featuring birds, with baseball caps, with colourful shoes and sitting on branches of a large tree

a blue and purple bird sings while standing on the branch of a tree, it's wearing a baseball cap. Part of a mural

part of a larger mural - a cat chases a bird, under a tree branch, tire rope swing on the tree in the picture too, the cat looks a bit like Felix the cat cartoon character

below: “Painting to the artist is like flight to the bird. Freedom”

part of mural, a dark blue bird sits in a tree. The words "Painting to the artist is like flight to the bird. freedom"

below: West side of the building

brick building in a laneway. At the top is an old sign that says IDA Hanin Drug Mart. Below, a large mural with birds.

below: White on black, a mural signed as @oskwong @release852 (2 photos)

mural on the side of a one storey building, black background, white line drawing, balance, good and evil, angel and devil, @oskwong, release852 as the signature on the mural

below: The central portion – it looks like the devil and maybe an angel? Good vs evil?

detail of a white drawing on black mural, ceter portion, devil and angel, by Oscar Kwong, release852

below: This mural is signed, ‘the Loft’ which is an acronym for Life Opportunities Food and Technology, a program run by the Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre.

back of a row of stores, lane view, air conditioning unit, garbage bins, a mural of a man wearing a suit and hat. Sign on mural says The Loft, by

below: A bicycle riding alligator.

a wood fence with a graffiti painting of a black alligator or crocodile on it. in an alley

below: White fish bones contrast with a bright orange garage door.

graffiti, white spray paint line drawing of fish bones with head and tail, large, on an orange garage door in a laneway

below: It’s not very often I have to watch out for a Mercedes AND a Ferrari in the lane!

a red Ferrari and a beige Mercedes drive past each other beside a coin laundry in a lane.

up and down, old and new, at Yonge and Bloor

Posted: June 11, 2016 in locations, old buildings
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Standing on the corner of Yonge & Bloor, looking south….  On one corner, a tower almost finished and on the other corner a tower another just started.  1 Bloor East and 1 Bloor West.

below: 1 Bloor East (7 photos)

part of a glass wall of windows of a tall condo under construction, two men on a balcony, as well as a piece of plastic covering something part way up

below: The beginnings of an overhang at street level, NW corner of the building.

part of a glass wall of windows of a tall condo under construction - reflections in the windows, looking up from the ground floor, the supports of an overhang at the first floor can be seen but the overhang itself is not finished

part of a glass wall of windows of a tall condo under construction - parts of two adjacent buildings

below: The podium level as seen from the SW corner of the building.

part of a glass wall of windows of a tall condo under construction - the edge of the podium levels as viewed from the street, looking up

below: The full height of the building is more easily seen from farther east on Bloor Street.

looking west along Bloor Street towards Yonge, with highrises on the left, and the overhang from the entranceway to the Marriott hotel on the right. people on the sidewalks as well as bright red umbrellas over seating at a patio.

part of a glass wall of windows of a tall condo under construction - curves and diagonal lines as well as the usual rows of windows

below: As seen from across the street, under the protective covering over the sidewalk.

part of a glass wall of windows of a tall condo under construction as seen from under a covered walkway across the street
below: Once upon a time the old Stollerys store stood on the southwest corner.  Today it is a construction site wrapped in hoardings covered by a mural of a forest scene.  I’m not sure what they’re trying to say or who they’re trying to fool.  Oh well, it looks pretty for now.

looking across the Yonge Bloor intersection towards the south west corner where there is a construction site with hoardings covered by a green mural of trees. High rises in the background, a few people on the ocrner waiting to cross the intersection.

below: If you look behind the hoardings, you will see that all the buildings except one have been demolished.   No hole has been dug yet so it’s going to be a while before this tower is completed.  And when it’s completed it will be Toronto’s tallest condo building at 72 storeys.

view of a construction site where one old building remains, a digger is on the site as is a very large orange rubbish bin

Two blocks north, at Yonge & Yorkville, there is another hole in the ground.

below: The doors and windows of the old brick buildings on Yonge Street are boarded up.  These buildings date from the 1860’s.

Looking across the intersection of Yonge and Yorkville streets at a row of old three storey brick stores that now have their doors and windows boarded up.

below: Peek around at the back and you’ll see that the old stores have been demolished but their facades have been saved.  Again, this project is in it’s early stages and again, it’s going to be a tall one.  This time, 58 storeys tall.

construction site, orange fence, the back part of a row of old buildings has been demolished, facades saved, now they are all boarded up.

below: The stores have been stripped of their signs and decorations.  It looks a bit desolate at the moment but it will be interesting to see just what the developers do with the facade.

a woman walks on a sidewalk on Yonge St past old brick buildings with their doors and windows boarded up

below: No one can argue that the old buildings were in good shape.  At least there is an effort being made to preserve the front of the buildings.  Preserving some of our history is important and I think that the old architecture adds visually to the look of the street.

an old wood column decorative piece on the front of an old brick building

As I walk back down Yonge street towards Bloor, a sign catches my eye.  Another development proposal sign – Toronto’s most common sign I think.  This one is for a 64 storey building at Yonge and Cumberland.  Anyone feeling a touch of vertigo at the moment?

development proposal sign on Yonge street

 

 

 

return to Scarfo Lane

Posted: June 9, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Graffiti and street art, sometimes it stays around a while and other times it disappears, hidden by someone else’s work.   Tags and words also appear where they often shouldn’t.  When I walk an alley that I’ve seen before, I never know what to expect but there is always something to discover to make it worth a repeat visit.   So it was this morning when I found myself back at Scarfo Lane.  Back in Nov 2014 (a year and a half ago!  … time flies by!) I posted about some of the street art and murals that I saw there.   Most of it is still there.

Today’s contributions follow – at least one is new and the others I’m not sure about, I might have omitted them last time.  The whims of the day and of the photographer.

below: Blue cool nature meets red hot city, friends, joined together & working together. Mural by ‘Insect Cabaret’ which is the name that artists Aisha Ali and Andalah Ali have given to themselves and their work.

a mural on a garage door, a blue figure on the left and an orange figure on the right. Blue represents nature and red represents the urban city

below: Swimming in the lane.

marine scene street art on a garage door in a lane, a red octopus, a green turtle swimming and a ship in the distance

The next two are from the same garage door.

colourful mural on a laneway garage door

colourful mural on a laneway garage door

And in case you’re curious  –

below: The blue bird and bird houses are still as bright as they were before…

blue faced animal wearing clothes and walking upright, with pole over shoulder, 3 bird houses hanging from the pole. A bluebird is sitting on the front of the pole, mural on a garage door in a lane

below: … and the little red birds are still floating along on their logs

part of a mural on a garage door in a laneway, a purple headed animal creature wearing a blue top and holding onto strings attached to floating logs with little red birds on them.

 

Frank Kovac lane

Posted: June 8, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Frank Kovac Lane is a short alley just south of Christie subway station.  Some of the garage doors were painted with murals in past years and, as usual, there were plenty of tags.  Recently, the lane was the scene of a community mural painting session thanks to the 4th Toronto Rangers (Girl Guides), StreetARToronto,  artist Nick Sweetman, and some local residents.  Now some of the tags are gone and more importantly, some more garage doors are home to bright and cheerful murals.  A few of them are included here.

below: At the north end of the lane is this large, colourful mural by Nick Sweetman.
Two large blue bears have found a plethora of honey.  Will the bees share?

large mural by Nick Sweetman on a wall in Frank Kovac Lane, two very large blue bears are eating honey from honeycombs while a few large bees buzz around.

part of a large mural by Nick Sweetman on a wall in Frank Kovac Lane, two very large blue bears are eating honey from honeycombs while a few large bees buzz around - close up of one bear's face

below: The new murals continue the animal theme, “Urban Wildlife”, starting with this fox.

garage door in an alley painted with a mural of a fox head beside a bicycle wheel with trilliums growing up in front of it.

below: A common Toronto animal, a raccoon, beside a red fire hydrant.

view in an alley, a lavendar coloured door. to the left of the door is a garage door painted with a mural of a raccoon and a red fire hydrant.

below: A blue jay eyes some blueberries.

mural on a pale yellow garage door of a blue jay sitting on hydro wires, also a bunch of wild blueberries is in the image

below: Several monster faces have lived in this alley for a while and they still remain.
This one looks like he needs a hair cut.

garage door painted with a monster face, big mouth and teeth, orange nose, in tones of blue, grey and orange, ivy is growing over the top of the garage and it looks like green hair.

three garages in a row in an alley, all painted with a large monster face

a skinny blue graffiti figure on the edge of a garage, between two garage doors with stylized and abstract faces painted on them. One is black and green and the other is black and white

An old garage and concrete fence with a door in it. The fence is cracked above the door. The door is painted black with bright colour scribbles, the garage door has a black and white mural on it

a painting in grey tones of a young boy in old fashioned shorts and long sleeved top, standing.

below: This graffiti is actually on Harbord Street but I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it
– a camera and an “oh snap”

Above Guan's auto service shop, a graffiti on an upper storey wall, a small camera and turquoise lettering and words in pink that say Oh snap. Above that is a red billboard for Bud and Burger

alleyway of dreams

Posted: June 7, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Alleyway of Dreams is an art project begun in 2012 that aims to spruce up and add some colour to a lane near Danforth and Main.  I walked the alley yesterday and this is what I saw.

below: A large mural by StreetARToronto, caring hands and large bees in Bee Haven. (2 photos)

part of a mural on a wall in a lane, a pair of yellow hands, a small plant pot is in one hand, a small green seedling is growing in the pot

part of a large mural on a wall in a lane, three very big bees

Artist Nadia Hakime has painted several animals on the garages in fences in the alley.

below: In the barnyard, four cows and three pink pigs.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - four cow heads and three pink pigs

below: A blue rhinoceros with a horn that resembles a flowering tree.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a blue rhinoceros with a horn that looks like a tree

below: This giraffe thinks you’re standing on your head.  His world is a very upside down place!

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a giraffe against blue sky with clouds. It's head is bent down so that the giraffe fits in a square space

below: A cute little bunny and a friendly blue dog ready to make friends.

Two sections of a fence painted with animal heads - a brown bunny on a green grass background and a blue pug dog

below: A majestic looking tiger.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a tiger's head

below: Humphry the donkey turns to look.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a donky's head on a turquoise fence

below: Grapefruits on the left and peaches? apricots? on the right.

two sections of wooden fence painted, one with pink circles and the other with orange ovals

below: A wonderful blue chameleon is smiling at passers by, painted by Steven Micallef.

graffiti street art animals painted on garage door in an alleyway - a bright blue chameleon

below: A ‘Starry Starry Night’ shed, thanks to Vincent Van Gogh and artist Nadia Hakime.

a copy of Vincent Van Gogh's 'Starry starry night' is painted on the side of a shed in a backyard.

blue vertical stripes painted on a white garage door, close up shot, with some new green growth on a small tree that is growing beside the garage

blog_stay_out_door_alley

#alleywayofdreams

The Alleyway of Dreams facebook page

kids and community, around Woodbine

Posted: June 7, 2016 in graffiti and street art, locations
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This post is about community involvement and the murals that result.  They aren’t great art and they weren’t meant to be.  They are about the stories we tell about ourselves and our communities.  They brighten our public spaces and enrich our neighbourhoods.

The first is a series of murals painted by Gledhill Public School students. There are murals by the graduating classes of 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 in a lane near the school.

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2008, black silhouettes under tree branches, hand prints too

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2009, black silhouette of the Toronto skyline with big colourful footprints, some roughly drawn people too , an airplane flies overhead

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2009, black silhouette of the Toronto skyline with big colourful footprints, some roughly drawn people too

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2010. A blue semi-circle

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2011. 2011 in large numbers across the bottom with grey silhouettes of people, brightly coloured squares with faces across the top

Part of a mural in an alley painted by students from Gledhill Public school, graduating class of 2011. 2011 in large numbers across the bottom with grey silhouettes of people, brightly coloured squares with faces across the top

Just to the east, Woodbine subway station is undergoing much needed renovations and expansion.  Some of the hoardings around the construction site have been covered with three murals.   They were painted by:  Haley G., Sasha K.S., Francis H., Melika W., Tristan C., Savannah P., Adrina P. and Anna-Lisa A as well as Jim Bravo and Andrenne Finnikin as part of the ‘City on the Move, Young Artists in Transit’ mural project.

Looking across a street to a construction site around which a fence has been erected. There are three murals painted on the hoardings.

The first mural is a juxtaposition of past and present, people playing beside the creek. The creek, trees, and birds are all the same.  There is now a city in the distance and clothing we wear has changed, but we still enjoy the outdoors like our ancestors did.

1910 to 2013, mural of past and present along the creek. Kids playing on either side, the past on the left, the present on the right, bird watching, standing in the grass,

Above ground, a fair, an amusement on a summer day.   Below ground, the subway is being built.

mural depicting people at a fair. A child is licking a giant round lollipop, a girl is holding a doll, a ferris wheel is in the background.

And last, woodpeckers in the trees as well as a poem by George Elliott Clarke who was the Poet Laureate of Toronto 2012-15.  It describes the murals and is transcribed below.

mural painted on TTC construction hoardings, trees and birch trees with no leaves on them, with a couple of woodpeckers

The poem on the last mural:

Seeing Beauty, at Woodbine
 
Citizens, let’s pasture ourselves in parks
And gardens, so skyscrapers mingle with trees,
And we recover Native faith, Settler
Hope, to savour birds’ trills and swoops, fording
Creek and times past, to touch us, where we stand.
 
Once was pleasure in a street fair – ice cream
And lollipop, but also in strolling
Or rolling down to work, shirt-sleeves rolled up,
Dawn light unfolding, That’s what’s visible.
(Underground, a steel vein branches, roots, and throbs.)
 
Torrential leaves stacked up towers, now fallen,
Last Fall, Birds tap into the standing logs
Winter planted.  Spring rain well refreshes
The city.  Now, young artists tap dreams –
Drafting Beauty – to which all say, “Bravo!”
 
by George Elliott Clarke

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