Faces of Regent Park

Posted: July 2, 2015 in public art
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Faces of Regent Park,
a new art installation by Toronto artist, Dan Bergeron

on Dundas West on the plaza by the new Aquatic Center

 on a concrete plaza at the entrance to a park, large glass laminate artwork that is a colourful portrait of a person -

on a concrete plaza at the entrance to a park, large glass laminate artwork that is a colourful portrait of a person - a young man

on a concrete plaza at the entrance to a park, large glass laminate artwork that is a colourful portrait of a person - a woman

on a concrete plaza at the entrance to a park, large glass laminate artwork that is a colourful portrait of a person - two people, on the left is a young man with the word camaraderie and on the right is a young woman with the word appreciate

on a concrete plaza at the entrance to a park, large glass laminate artwork that is a colourful portrait of a person - two men, the one on the right has the word pride written into the painting

on a concrete plaza at the entrance to a park, large glass laminate artwork that is a colourful portrait of a person - a young woman with the word future but spelled as f u t u r

on a concrete plaza at the entrance to a park, large glass laminate artwork that is a colourful portrait of a person - a boy

celebrating Canada Day

Posted: July 2, 2015 in events
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Canada Day 2015

There were celebrations at a number of locations around the city
including Queens Park and Yonge-Dundas Square.

A young man stands in Dundas Square in an area that has been barricaded off and also in which a large maple leaf outline in red tape has been laid down. He is wearing a red Canada T shirt and holding a small Canadian flag.

The red outline of a maple leaf was then used to make a “living flag” of people wearing red T-shirts and white T-shirts. The crowd waited patiently behind the barricades while the organizers got their act together. Not everyone stayed on the sidelines!

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Five people pose for a photo. They are wearing red T shirts and they are standing withing the stem of the maple leaf outline that is taped to the ground. They are the first ones into the living flag that is trying to be made at Dundas Square as part of a Canada Day celebration

The first part of the “living flag” takes their place in the stem of the maple leaf.

 

A man holds a young girl on his shoulders while the watch a performance of New Choir, a choir that sings old rock songs, as part of a Canada Day celebration at Dundas Square. The girl is wearing a red hat with white maple leafs on it. There are Canadian flags hanging from the ceiling of the stage.

Listening to New Choir perform at Yonge Dundas Square

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two women are all dressed in white and sitting in poses to look like statues. A boy is approaching them to figure them out

The back of a young girl wearing a red baseball cap and sitting on someone's shoulder as she watches an acrobat show on a stage

One of the better seats in the house! Watching the acrobatics at Queens Park.

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A woman all dressed in white is sitting still as if she's a statue. A man, also wearing a hat, stands behind her mimicking her pose

A man is hamming it up for the camera. He is wearing a silver and red oversized tophat and a red and white costume. He is holding the corner of a large Canadian flag

A young girl looks a bit skeptical as she poses with four women dressed in frilly white dresses who are hamming it up for the camera. Exaggerated facial expressions

A group of characters in red and white Canada Day costumes stop to pose with some boys. One of the characters has a stuffed beaver that is trying to take a sip of the boy's snowcone.

It’s thirsty work being a beaver!

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Two kids sit on the sidewalk beside two men who are talking. Yonge Street is in the background, with traffic, including an open topped double decker bus.

a red headed young man is standing on the base of a statue to get a better look at a show, the crowd is in the background. He is all dressed in red and his Tshirt has the words I am Canadian on it

A young toddler wearing a white flower head band and a red T-shirt, and holding a Canadian flag is being held by her father

An older man in a red T shirt and a funny red and white hat is holding 2 small Canadian flags

Mayor John Tory has a small Canadian flag in his hand as he talks to people at Dundas Square on Canada day. He's in a white T-shirt.

As I stood as part of the white of the Canadian flag, along came John Tory, also on the white team. Just out of the picture (and also in white) was Miss Teenage Toronto. (What? We have a what? I had no idea there was a Miss Teen Toronto).  Next time I’ll try harder to get a picture of her but this time I was preoccupied with being part of a flag.

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Here’s to the next 148 years!

A person in red and white Canada Day costume is on stilts with three others standing beside, in front of the parliament buildings at Queens Park

Pride Parade 2015

Posted: June 30, 2015 in events
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Toronto Pride Parade,
Bloor St. and Yonge St., June 2015

fun & games,
smiles & laughter,
community involvement
pride parade pics in no particular order

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - Toronto mayor John Tory walks in the parade while holding a large yellow and orange super soaker

Toronto mayor John Tory walks in the parade armed with a super soaker.

 

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - Cyndi Lauper is wearing a white frilly dress and hat as she rides on top of a float for the musical KInky Boots. In the background a photographer leans out the window of a building to get a better view of the parade.

Actress Cyndi Lauper rides on the ‘Kinky Boots’ float.

 

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a man in a spiderman costume stands on a garbage bin so he is above the crowd on a sidewalk watching the parade

Spiderman makes an appearance too.

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people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a man is holding a purple sign that says "Proud of Our children"

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a couple of members of the triggerfish waterpolo team stand behind a banner with their team name on it. They are wearing bathing suits only

Elizabeth May, wearing a green garland wrapped around her neck and helping to hold a green banner walks in a parade along with some other people

Elizabeth May, leader of the federal Green Party.

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people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a few people have found a higher vantage point from which to watch the parade. One man is wearing white frilly underpants and white angel wings. On his stomach is written God 'heart' you

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a group of asexual people walk past holding sings, "trans asexuals exist" and "it's not that you're not sexy, it's just that I don't care"

A group from the University of Toronto marches in a pride parade. They have a large blue banner with pink lettering that says Out in Law.

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a group of parade marchers pauses so that one man can show the camera that he's got a bare ass

Two men stand on an exterior ledge of a building, one storey up from ground level. Two rainbow flags too.

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - one of the parade marchers, while holding a French flag, stops to lift his leg over the barricades

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a group of four men in colourful and outrageous drag stop to pose for a photo

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - the #HIVanonymous characters in complete white costume stop to pose for a picture in front of group that is preaching anti-gays messages

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - the #HIVanonymous characters in complete white costume stop to pose for a picture in front of group that is preaching anti-gay messages

Anonymous characters because #HIVanonymous

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A group representing lawyers walks in the pride parade including a boy in a yellow rain coat. One of the men is carrying a sign that says We're lawyers, we'll get you off.

A group of men dressed up as different fruits, banana, kiwi, blueberry, apple and orange

Fruit having a wonderful time in support of Communityone Foundation

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people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a man in drag - long pink dress, pink socks and pink shoes laughs while posing for a picture with a large black person in skimpy costume who is also laughing
Toronto fire truck in pride parade, rainbow flags decorate the fire truck

A flower head band has fallen to the ground and is beside two people's feet, both of whom are wearing sandals.

part of a group photo taken after the pride parade. Group is Conseil scolaire viamonde, le success s'exprime en francais, an association of French schools in Ontario

A woman in a blue jacket poses beside two scantily clad women with light lime green hair

#lovewins Two young women in sunglasses walking in the pride parade join hands and make a heart shape with their fingers

A group of people holding a large rainbow coloured banner that says #oneteam. Some of them are taking selfies

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - three people pose for a photo. One in a multicoloured wig, one with a green hat and one with flowers in her hair

A crowd of marchers cheer - people at a pride parade on a rainy day -

people at a pride parade in the rain

people at a pride parade in the rain - three guys posing for a photo, one is in a banana costume

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - from the back, a threesome poses for a photo, the woman on the left is staring at the assless chaps of the man beside her

people at a pride parade in the rain - boy in ornage raincoat and sunglasses standing in front of many balloons

people at a pride parade in the rain - three Asain guys, two under an umbrella, and a third wearing a salmon coloured rain poncho and holding up a sign that says "brown queer proud'

people at a pride parade in the rain - a man in an orange Tshirt holding a sign that says "I'm proud to have a gay agenda, NDP"

people at a pride parade in the rain - a topless man in a pink hat who is helping to hold a sign that says "Get Real" Others around him are also wearing pink hats

A young woman making a face at the camera as she holds a sign that says "get real" - people at a pride parade in the rain

people at a pride parade in the rain - two guys in drag with high heeled boots and wigs, with lots of feathers on their heads, are posing in front of a crowd who are behind metal barricades.

people at a pride parade in the rain - a man dancing and holding a mic, with a funny look on his face, on a float from the Peel Regional Police, called the Heat, there are lots of balloons beside and above him.

“The Heat”, Peel Regional Police

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people at a pride parade in the rain - some women holding signs promoting the Human RIghts Commission. they are holding rainbow flags as well

group of people holding up a blue banner that says Facebooks LGBT employee group

people at a pride parade in the rain - close up of a man in a red and black leather mask that covers his whole head, behind him and slightly blurry are two soldiers, navy guy in white on one side and army guy in greenish uniform on the other side

people at a pride parade in the rain - a person dressed in a long frilly pink and white dress pushing a walker on which there is large stuffed monkey

people at a pride parade in the rain - three young women holding squeeze bottles of paint, they are covered with paint that they have squeezed onto themselves

people at a pride parade in the rain - a young woman smiling from behind a lot of balloons that she is holding.

Three young men making peace signs as they pose for a camera

people at a pride parade in the rain - an older man in a superman costume walks along a sidewalk past other people who are walking on the road in preparations for the parade. Most of them are holding umbrellas

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a policeman helps with crowd control along the barricades of the parade route
pride parade goes on behind blue metal fence, in the rain, near the end of the parade

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - the back of a woman with short black hair. She has a tattoo across the back of her neck that says Elizabth as well as a temporary colourful tattoo that includes the words #for a colourful city

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a group watches the parade from the balcony of a bar

Man wearing black rabbit ears, dressed in black leather, and holding a large carrot at a pride parade

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - man is red mask and red wig as well as white gloves has his hand over his mouth as he begins to throw a kiss towards the camera

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - a nude man poses in the middle of the road while he takes a selfie. Onlookers watch.

You don’t need clothes to take a selfie!

people at a pride parade on a rainy day - an older man in a flowery wig and flowery top along with a bulky necklace stands in front of a crowd, close up shot of head and shoulders

it rained on the parade

Posted: June 29, 2015 in events
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Pride Week 2015

Most of these photos are from the Dyke March on Saturday, both of the people walking in the parade and the people who came out in the rain to watch the parade.  And rain it did.  But there were still lots of smiles and lots of laughter. 

 

Three young women standing in the rain as the watch a Dyke march parade. One is wearing a red poncho and one is holding a sign that says " Can't rain on my parade"

Three women are holding a large banner that says 'Dyke March Toronto 2015' that has been crocheted and sewn together.

Group of women riding bikes in a parade on a rainy city street as part of a dyke march, pride week event.

motorcycles in the rain, dyke march parade, down Yonge St. in Toronto

A group of women walking in a dyke march on a rainy city street. Two of the women are carrying a banner that says "Fifty + Toronto"

A couple in blue garbage bags as rainwear are standing in front of a billboard on which there is a picture of a woman.
pride dyke march, dykes on bikes, woman in bright yellow raincoat rides a bicycle that is pulling a trailer

pride week, dyke march, woman on a bike is holding a sign with a red AIDS ribbon and the words 'friends for life'

motorcycles in the rain, dyke march parade, down Yonge St. in Toronto

Two men watching a parade on a rainy afternoon. One is holding a camera and is standing behind a concrete barricade. The other man is standing on the barricade and cheering and clapping.

A group of women on bikes are riding in a dyke march, pride week. The march has temporarilty stopped and three photographers are standing in front of the riders taking their picture. The woman in front is topless and she has drawn a picture of a bike on her breasts.

pride week, dyke march, a grey haired woman is carrying a pink sign that says 'G'day from Australia' and behind her is a couple of young women sharing a gren umbrella

Three people on a sidewalk. A man in a black and grey hoodie who is looking at the two women beside him. One woman is in a multicoloured tutu and an orange sweatshirt. She is looking at her phone. The other woman is wearing an ornage skirt and a yellow sweater

Two men in colourful and glamorous drag are standing on a sidewalk in the rain. They are each holding a clear umbrella. A girl is standing beside them with an astonished look on her face.

A line of people walking in the Dyke March, pride weekend. Two women are holding a rainbow flag. antother woman is pushing a stroller. Two of them are holding rainbow umbrellas.

motorcycles in the rain, dyke march parade, down Yonge St. in Toronto
A group of people standing on a sidewalk in the rain as they watch a parade. They are standing in front of a Mind Games store .

Pride week, Dyke march, a woman is carrying a pink sign that says "womens strength and courage has nothing to do with mens balls"

a woman in a red jacket with a red purse and a pink umbrella

Rear view of two well built men who are wearing just their briefs. they have words painted on their backs, "Hero fit" and "be a #diesel hero". They are standing in front of a Trojan booth, pride week display.

A couple is at an ATM on the side of the TD Canada Trust bank. A large rainbow has been painted around it for pride week.

Two women, both smiling. One is holding an umbrella and has a bow in her hair. The other is also under the umbrella.

wandering again

Posted: June 27, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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I wandered away again.

This time I went to Rochester New York where I discovered a lot of great murals!
You can find more on their own page.

 

mural of a woman, very realistic looking, lying on her side with her eyes closed. It covers two garage doors.

medicine wheel

Posted: June 26, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Medecine Wheel is painted on the north side of the June Callwood Center for Women, Parliament Street.

It faces a vacant lot that is surrounded on the three other sides by chain link fence.
Locked gate.  No entry.

large mural on the side of a building, green weeds growing in front of it, a large man's face is the ceter piece of the mural.

large mural on the side of a building, green weeds growing in front of it, a large man's face is the ceter piece of the mural.

sign painted on a mural with its title "medecine wheel' and the names of the people involved in the painting of the mural

lovebot goes to Montreal, and so do I

Posted: June 16, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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MuralFest 2015 in Montreal – a few wonderful sunny days walking around Montreal.  Lots to see and do!  I spotted a few lovebots while I was there including this one:

a black lovebot sticker on a black pole with a bike parked against that pole and a pink and purple mural of faces behind in the background

More lovebot in Montreal pics on this site.

More Montreal (mostly street art and MuralFest) pics, also this site.

magical garden

Posted: June 12, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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The Magical Garden, by Broadview Community Youth Group and Wallnoise

sign on a painted fence in a park that says 'The Magical Garden by Broadview Community Youth Group'

in a park just north of the Danforth between Ferrier and Logan.

street art painting of a bright green and yellow mouse head

One wall features four murals created by members of the youth group.

mural of a marine life scene with mostly jellyfish, octopus and fish
On a fence in a park - a mural, or collage, abstract flowers made of circles and squares in many bright colours.

Close up of part of a mural, or collage, abstract flowers made of circles and squares in many bright colours.

Mural done by a youth group of birds in the branches of a large tree

Mural done by a youth group of many different kinds of animals

giraffe and two butterflies

 Local street artists have decorated the other fences in the park as well as a couple of garage doors in the lane adjacent to the park.

park fence with house behind, fence is painted with street art

in the foreground is a garage with two pieces of street art, a little green monster on a red background, and half a butterfly

Graffiti street art mural on the side of a garage, a pair of wolves howling at the sunset on the left, and a large light blue dog head on the right

mural of a butterfly on the corner of a garage, one half of the butterfly is on the front of the garage and the other half of the graffiti butterfly is on the side of the garage

Fat round fish with big eyes and sharp teeth - looks a bit like a monster, swimming on a blue garage door in a lane.

Street art painting of a pink cat head on a fence with a cutout brown and black cat above it.

 

Hurricane Hazel under St. Phillips

Posted: June 12, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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More art under another bridge over the Humber Recreational Trail, this time as the trail passes under St. Phillips Road (near Weston Rd and the 401).

Painted by Gabriel Specter and Dan Bergeron, it represents the energy of a hurricane.  Sixty years ago Hurricane Hazel was responsible for flooding of the Humber River that killed people and destroyed many homes.

below:  A purple graphic representation of a cyclone beside swirling water is the backdrop for the red slinky-like spiraling energy of the hurricane.

Mural of swirling water and a tangled spiral shape in red representing a hurrican rising from the eye of the storm upwards to the underside of the road

This spiral crosses under the road and connects the two side murals.

Mural on a concrete support of a bridge over a trail. rocks on blue, with a tangled spiral shape in red representing a hurricane rising from the rocks (or ending at the rocks) and passing upwards to the under side of the road above.

part of a mural under a bridge - a tangled spiral shape in red representing a hurrican rising from the eye of the storm upwards to the underside of the road

Fourteen murals are planned along the route of the Pan Am Path, a trail that will connect Brampton to Pickering running south along the Humber River and then east along Lake Ontario.

signs along the HUmber Recreational trail indicating the name of the trail, the cycle path number that it is, the fact that it is also the Pan Am Path, and lastly a sign that says dogs must be on a leash.

billboards at Spadina and Front

Posted: June 8, 2015 in general Toronto
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Part of CONTACT photography festival,
billboard “art” on the NE corner of Spadina and Front streets.

All the billboards are in a parking lot in what was a junky looking space to begin with.

below:  Yellow rubber gloves with the fingers tucked back in…
to look like they’ve just been taken off a pair of hands?

a billboard above a parking lot, condos in the background. A pair of yellow rubber gloves with the openings turned into a cuff are all that in the image on the board

below: The body of the handbag is a loaf of bread.

a small billboard in front and a larger, higher one in the background. In the background is a woman's hand holding what looks like a handbag but the bag part is made of a loaf of bread. In the foreground, yellow background with household objects arranged in a face like shape.

below: Clusters of sponges.  At first I thought they were candies.

billboard art - three clusters of colourful sponges on a black background

three billboards with art images instead of advertisements
Supported by Pattison Outdoor Advertising and Nikon Canada.

a billboard with a large picture of clear bottles filled with coloured liquids in reds and oranges.

“Challenging how people perceive and interact with images in public spaces”

“Each of the artists destabilizes the conventions of advertising and the cultural codes associated with consumer lifestyles.”

Me?  I’ll call them dull and underwhelming clutter.  Too harsh?  Perhaps.
I’ll leave the verdict up to you.

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