as I walk Toronto

Queen East and a little bit Eastern

Posted: September 23, 2023 in construction, doors, intersections, old buildings, stores
Tags: architecture, Bareket, buses, Consumers Gas, Curtia Wright, doors, dutch love, Eastern Ave., Elicser Elliott, fence, flowers, Gales, ghost signs, Hebrew, houses, Leslieville, Mediah, murals, Queen Street East, redevelopment, signs, stores, trucks, vacant lots, welcome, Welcome Back to Main Street

These are some of the photos that I took the last time that I walked along Queen Street East – with a diversion or two down to Eastern Avenue. It was a wander around parts of the Leslieville and Riverside neighbourhoods. In no particular order….

below: Leslieville mural painted by Elicser Elliott, Queen Street East

below: Queen Street shops

below: Hebrew letters, part of a project called “Welcome Back to Main Street” from back in 2021. The Riverside Neighbourhood and Leslieville BIA collaborated with STEPS Public Art as part of the I HeART Main Street Challenge. The painting was done by local artists Bareket and Curtia Wright

below: … and nearby, “welcome” in Polish, witamy.

below: At 744 Queen East, the old white Bank of Commerce building with its bowed front facade, dates from 1905. The architects who designed the building were Darling & Pearson who were responsible for a number of bank buildings in Toronto and other Canadian cities.

below: Blessed Love Caribbean Grocery and Take Out.

below: A frenzied backdrop to a sidewalk patio.

below: Ghost sign at Queen and Coady.

below: More details from the past trying to hold on. The “blue box” has obliterated the old gabled roof structure that has probably been there for more than 100 years.

below: Canadian flag motifs on planters

below: Strange ducks on posters, a form of graffiti? Or just weirdness?

below: Sax player at the Duke

below: Mediah on Queen

below: on Broadview

below: Gales Snack Bar, Eastern and Carlaw.

below: Old row houses on Eastern – 4 in a row, 3 blue but 545 is in its original brown.

below: Something else that is old – an old style bus shelter close to an old metal Queen Street street sign affixed to the brick building.

below: And one last “you don’t see many of these anymore” – old parking meters. Anyone got coins?

below: Snapdragons

below: Lilies and hostas

below: More flowers, and a baby pram too. Did you know that pram is just a short form of perambulator? How British is that! Even better, the second meaning of perambulator is, “a person who walks, especially for pleasure and in a leisurely way.”

below: More than flowers!

below: Perambulating on Queen West!

below: Traffic on Eastern Ave, headed downtown.

below: No trespassing sign on one of the many vacant lots on the south side of Eastern.

below: This is one of the vacant lots on Eastern; it’s just west of Leslie. The containers are offices (?) for GM as in General Motors. They are sitting on a seven acre site that is otherwise empty. Starting back in 2016 there was talk that this site would be developed as a GM Mobility Campus but approval from the city was never granted. The previous buildings (film studios) were demolished and the lot lies vacant.

below: Another space is for storage of old buses and trucks, movie props and other remnants of film productions.

below: … which happened to be unlocked the day I walked past.

below: On Leslie Street, at Eastern, this whole building is for lease because….

below: .. as the letter states, the last tenant was locked out. They abandoned the premises leaving behind more than $100,000 in rent owing to the landlord.

below: The former Consumers Gas Company (now part of Enbridge) has had a large presence on Eastern Avenue for many years. This stone on the exterior of the building names all the Consumers Gas directors in 1907 (presumably when the building was built?). J.L. Blaikie was the president and A.W. Austin was the vice-president. The mayor of the city, E. Coatsworth, was also a director. There was a Sir W. Mortimer Clark on the list and, to no one’s surprise, the other names were all very anglo.

below: Queen West at the CNR tracks

below: Little red picket fence

below: Renovations

below: Note the many hydro meters all in a row – six units in what was once a single family home.

below: So far so good

below: Nice

below: You never know what you will find written on the concrete.

below: In memory of Karolina Huebner-Makurat who died on a Friday afternoon in August because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was caught in the crossfire during an altercation outside a supervised injection site. Senseless. Horrible.

Stay safe.

catchoo and friends

Posted: September 18, 2023 in graffiti and street art
Tags: Bruho, catchoo, Christopher Piccinich, feelings boi, love catchoo, Queen St. East, sailor dude, slaps, stickers, T-bonez, the chosen few, trp613, Ty Pro, urban ninja squadron, visual noise

A group of stickers seen on a pole on Queen Street East recently

has an image from Catchoo combined with a perplexed Sailor dude from Ty Pro in the top place – what a cute balloon! At the bottom are three heads that you might recognize from previous posts. In pink is T-bonez from urban ninja squadron and the chosen few; on the right is a luchadore mask from bruho.

Here catchoo collaborates with c_priority (a k a Christopher Piccinich ) Even within the blacks of his suit there are little catchoo symbols and characters. I was hoping that there were secret messages written on the pieces of paper on the desk but there are just squiggly lines.

Last, feelings boi joins the fun. Is it a sword? or an umbrella? Whatever it is, there are smiles all round.

a tale of two bridges

Posted: September 15, 2023 in construction, locations, old buildings, transportation
Tags: Canadian National Railway, CNR, construction, dump truck, Eastern Ave., GO Transit, Leslieville, Metrolinx, Ontario line, Queen St. East, Riverdale, Riverside, street, traffic, train, trucks, TTC

Traffic on Eastern Avenue near Broadview has faced construction and traffic delays over the past few months. The slow downs are ongoing as work on the railway bridge progresses. This work is because Metrolinx is adding tracks to make room for the new Ontario Line. Like many parts of the city, there are many changes occurring in the area.

Demolition on the north side of Eastern, and poof, gone, one large 5 storey Self Storage facility at 356 Eastern. Removed to make way for new tracks. The beige house faces Lewis Street.

… and now sitting gutted on the south side is another not old building (South side of Eastern Ave between Broadview and the railway tracks).

South side of Eastern, from another angle.

West side approach to the Canadian National Railway bridge

Along with the new railway line, Metrolinx is building what they are calling the East Harbour transit hub. This involves a new Ontario Line station as well as a new GO station on the Lakeshore East and Stouffville GO lines. Eventually, plans are to have TTC streetcars or LRT link here (it is directly south of Broadview and there is a plan to extend Broadview).

below: Construction along the railway line, south of Eastern Ave

below: One side (the east side) of the railway tracks has been demolished. Ultimately the whole bridge will be replaced but it is being done in stages to allow GO trains and VIA rail trains to continue running throughout the process.

A constant flow of dump trucks back and forth, in and out, of the construction site south of Eastern (on both sides of the railway tracks). The 38 acre site that includes the old Lever Bros (Ponds, Sunlight etc) soap factory is being redeveloped at the same time – it extends south to Lakeshore and west to the Don River.

Looking west on Eastern Ave, back towards downtown.

405 Eastern Ave, immediately east of the railway bridge, is also under construction. It has nothing to do with transportation as it is a new Enbridge building. A large 3 storey building with both offices and industrial (computers?) will probably be built here.

Makes sense, gas pipelines on site.

Just north of Eastern Ave, the railway tracks cross Queen St East., crossing over a bridge of the same style and vintage. Once upon a time this was a level crossing with a railway station on the northwest corner, the Riverdale station on the Grand Trunk Railway. This is soon to be the location of the Riverside Leslieville station on the not yet built Ontario Line.

So far the bridge is still intact but it too will be completely changed by the time Metrolinx is finished. The station itself will be on the bridge (if their drawings & plans are to be believed).

Here there will be 6 tracks – 4 for GO Transit and 2 for the Ontario Line.

Aries and Poseidon

Posted: September 12, 2023 in graffiti and street art
Tags: Aries, Greek gods, Greektown, Nick Sweetman, Poseidon, skewr, vektr, vektrman

This large Greektown mural on Pape Avenue features two Greek Gods – Aries and Poseidon – painted by Nick Sweetman. In the middle is the Parthenon, the work of Skewr.

below: Aries the God of War (with portions of throw up by vektr)

below: Poseidon the God of the Sea.

without fear

Posted: September 6, 2023 in galleries
Tags: AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, photography, Wolfgang Tillmans

The photography of Wolfgang Tillmans (b. 1968 in Germany), “To Look Without Fear” is on display helter skelter on the walls of the upper floor of the Art Gallery of Ontario. Breathtaking in its audacity, but to speak without fear, overwhelming in its mediocrity.

There are some outstanding moments of brilliance and/or technique but they are swamped by lesser pieces.

Some of the best photos were those that had been printed in newspapers such as this photo of refugees in East Timor.

Exhibit continues until then end of September 2023

Union Station and beyond

Posted: August 19, 2023 in construction, locations, people, public art, transportation
Tags: Bremner, construction, David Rokeby, John McEwen, Legends Row, Maple Leaf Square, Maple Leafs, Pixel Cube, Scotiabank Arena, signs, statues, Union station

Welcome back!

below: Posing with the men of Legends Row

below: The CN Tower peaks out from behind glass buildings on Bremner.

below: A slightly different angle, but still looking west on Bremner towards the Rogers Centre, which of course everyone still calls the SkyDome. The very east end of Bremner is also known as Raptors Way in celebration of the Toronto Raptors NBA Championship win in 2019 (that’s basketball for those of you who don’t follow such things).

below: Maple Leaf Square. The three rusted metal cones form “Search Light, Star Light, Spot Light” (1998) by John McEwen. At night, light shines through the thousand star shaped holes in the metal.

below: South entrance to Union Station.

below: More public art with lights can be seen in the foyer at 25 York Street (enter at Union Station in photo above and turn left). Thirty thousand lights suspended from the ceiling and they are constantly changing colour. This is David Rokeby’s “Pixel Cube”.

below: If you had turned right instead of left into 25 York, you would find yourself in the foyer of Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pictured, larger than life on the wall, are 90 Ryan O’Reilly, 16 Mitch Marner, and 88 William Nylander.

below: Russell Peters gives directions?

below: Although much of the Union Station renovation is complete, there are still mystery parts behind temporary walls and plastic barriers.

below: The walk from the railway side of the station to the TTC portion is now covered. No more dodging the elements!

below: Construction on Bay Street, immediately north of the railway tracks.

below: A typical day in downtown Toronto? Construction vehicles caught in the gridlock.

below: Intersection of Bay and Front (that truck is still there!).

below: At street level, something is happening with the gold tinted glass windows on the Royal Bank building. No opportunities to play with reflections in the angled glass walls. As an aside, if you want to discover how many plainclothes security people are lurking in the area, put your camera over the wall and aim it at the building. Then smile.

below: Heading north, Bay and Wellington

Let’s start with A

Posted: August 11, 2023 in construction, locations, old buildings
Tags: anthropology, Knox College, Louis B. Stewart Observatory, Philosophers Walk, purple prairie clover, Que Rock, Queen Alexandra Gateway, Thomas Haskell, Trinity College, U of T Art Museum, University College, University of Toronto, Walter Yarwood

In this case A is a very fancy letter and A is for Alexandra – as in Queen Alexandra. This is a post on one side of the Queen Alexandra Gateway at the north end (at Bloor Street) of Philosophers Walk. A little bit of history – This gate was built by the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire to commemorate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall in 1901. Originally it stood slightly to the east, at the north end of Queens Park Drive (at Bloor). The names and relationships of the British monarchy can get confusing! The Duke of Cornwall was also Prince George (who later became King George V). Queen Alexandra was his mother – the wife of King Edward VII

on a stone gate pillar, two metal pieces, a crown and the letter A, gatepost is for Queen Alexandra Gateway

Or maybe A is for Architecture.

below: There is plenty of that as you walk along Philosophers Walk including this juxtaposition of old stone and new glass. The reddish structure was built in 1897 to house the Toronto Conservatory of Music. The glass addition to the now Royal Conservatory of Music opened in 2009.

below: The aged copper at the top of Trinity College (built 1920s) is another example of the architectural details to be seen here.

… and now A is for Academia as we find ourselves surrounded by the University of Toronto.

below: Front of Trinity College

below: Ivy covered walls.

below: Hart House – financed by Vincent Massey and named after his father, Hart Massey (of Massey Ferguson). Vincent Massey was the 18th Governor General of Canada (Feb 1852- Dec 1859).

below: “He came and preached peace. ” Faces and felines above a Knox College window.

below: Impressive stonework around a University College door.

below: University College window.

below: Purple prairie clover in front of University College (and no, sadly it doesn’t start with A).

below: Not all University buildings are old and built of stone. This is the McLennan Physical Laboratories building (originally from 1967 but with many updates).

A is for Art.

When I walked this route, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto (in University College) was showing a few artists including the graduating projects of the 2023 Master of Visual Studies graduate students Durga Rajah, Nimisha Bhanot, Omolola Ajao, and Sarah Zanchetta. That exhibited end on the 22nd of July (I am a bit behind in posting). Here is an example – I leave it to you, A the Audience, to decide if it is A for Art in this case.

below: Title: “@ranaayyub Proud of the Muslim women in India who are sticking their neck out and speaking against the tyranny of the Indian state, (Rana Ayyub)” 2023 by Nimisha Bhanot. The image is taken from a short video posted on Instagram in April 2022 by Rana Ayyub who is a journalist at the Washington Post (born in Mumbai India).

A is for Anatomy. But yikes, the anatomy is not where you’d expect it to be!

below: Part of “Consuming Caribbean” series by Thomas Haskell.

A is for Artefacts although I may be grasping at straws here…. (Art -efacts perchance?)… “Resurgent Artefacts” is the name of another of the installations at the U of T Art Museum. It consists of words written on the wall as well as spoken plus a visual aspect. The words begin with: “this morning, a hole appears in your stomach. you rinse dishes that roll inward. sprinkle flowers which disappear. your heart beat ragged like stems rotting in still water. it is no small devastation. sprung without antecedent or count in. just a slow sink. a mossy bog.”… there is more, 8 feet high. Full text on artist’s instagram page

below: The visual part of Jasmine Gui’s “Resurgent Artefacts”, floor to ceiling designs on Japanese paper. A single picture probably doesn’t do it justice.

A is also for Astronomy.

Or in this case, the Louis B. Stewart Observatory on Hart House Circle. The original building was the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory. From Wikipedia: “The original building was constructed in 1840 as part of a worldwide research project … to determine the cause of fluctuations in magnetic declination. Measurements from the Toronto site demonstrated that sunspots were responsible for this effect on Earth’s magnetic field. When this project concluded in 1853, the observatory was greatly expanded by the Canadian government and served as the country’s primary meteorological station and official timekeeper for over fifty years. The observatory is considered the birthplace of Canadian astronomy.”

A is for Anthropology. That’s the study of humanity, or what makes humans human. You could say it’s the study of cultures and societies and how they develop or interact. Here someone from the Anthropology Department has planted food? I am not sure what is growing here….

below: Also outside the Anthropology building is this cast-bronze sculpture called ‘Cedars’ (1962) by Walter Yarwood.

A is for Anishinaabe

It is also our last stop on this wander through part of the University of Toronto. Now we are at Spadina, just north of the Daniels Building/Architecture faculty where this design was painted on the large north window in November 2021 by Que Rock.

Anyone for B?

a quick check on Osgoode

Posted: August 6, 2023 in construction, locations
Tags: construction, cyclist, Metrolinx, Ontario line, Osgoode station, pedestrian, sidewalk, sidewalks, street, subway, traffic, transit, transportation, University Ave.

At the end of last year there was some controversy about removal of some of the trees from the park in front of Osgoode Hall to make way for Metrolinx and the new Ontario Line subway. (see post here – tree removal ).

Well, the trees did come down and subway construction has begun. The northbound lanes on University Ave north of Queen are closed and of course traffic chaos has ensued.

below: One entrance to Osgoode station on the southwest corner of Queen and University (looking north). On the Metrolinx website, the old building that now houses Rexall will become a new entrance to the subway. Or at least the facade of the building from 1929 is being retained. Before it was a Rexall drug store it was a CIBC branch.

below: Pedestrians crossing Queen Street, east side of University Ave (looking south)

below: The other entrance to Osgoode station is on the northeast corner of University and Queen. (Looking south in this photo.) A new entrance is planned for this location too except that it will be within the black wrought iron fence that surrounds Osgoode Hall. This frees up space on the busy sidewalk.

below: The bike lane on westbound Queen Street comes to an abrupt end and the corner is quite dangerous.

Walking north on University Avenue

below: Looking south on University from Armoury Street. This is the section of University that is closed to traffic.

below: University Club of Toronto, a Georgian building, with just one edge of the US Consulate General visible on the left side of the photo.

below: Weaving of traffic at Armoury Street (in front of the US Consulate General).

McNicoll & Cassatt

Posted: August 4, 2023 in galleries
Tags: AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, Helen McNicoll, Impressionism, Mary Cassatt, painting

One of the exhibits now on at the Art Gallery of Ontario features the work of two Impressionist painters. One is Helen McNicoll who born in Toronto in 1879 but raised in Montreal. When she was two years old she contacted scarlet fever which left her deaf. After a few years of art studies in both England and Montreal, she moved to Europe in 1908. She was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1913 and was created an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1914. In 1915 she died. Over her short career she contributed over 70 works to exhibitions in both Canada and Britain.

below: “The Open Door” about 1913, by Helen McNicoll. The words beside the painting end with this sentence: “(The) title asks us what it means to stand next to an open door and not walk out.” Also, note that there is no reflection in the mirror.

below:“In the Shadow of a Tree” by Helen McNicoll.

In this exhibit, McNicoll’s work is shown along side some of Mary Cassatt’s paintings. Cassatt (1844-1926). Both artists were women and both painted in an Impressionist style. Cassatt was at least a generation older as she was showing her paintings in Europe a few years before McNicoll was born.

below: “The Cup of Tea” by Mary Cassatt, about 1880 to 1881. This painting was shown in the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1881. It is a portrait of Cassatt’s sister Lydia as she partakes in a Parisian afternoon tea with white gloves and pink finery. The pink of the dress is reflected in the shiny fabric of the purple chair. (note: between 1874 and 1886 there were 8 exhibits featuring Impressionist paintings. Cassatt had paintings in many of these exhibitions.)

below: “Montreal in a Snowstorm” by Helen McNicoll. Although McNicoll spent most of her adult life in Europe, she returned home to visit her family in Montreal frequently.

This exhibit is on until 4th Sept 2023.

boom town

Posted: July 22, 2023 in locations, public art
Tags: art, blue, boom town, booms, eyes, Gardiner, Lakeshore, reflections, the bentway, Waterfront BIA, waterfront reconnect, York St.

Something to smile about!

He’s happy to be hanging out under the Gardiner with a friend….

while another of the gang lurks nearby, keeping an eye on the situation….

Together they are part of “Boom Town”, a temporary creative intervention to brighten the day of passers by. A colourful contrast to the Lakeshore and the Gardiner above it, brought to life by the people at the bentway as well as the Waterfront BIA.

as I walk Toronto

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