Posts Tagged ‘bridge’

strength in numbers

Posted: August 3, 2016 in graffiti and street art, public art
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Just before Dupont Street ends at Dundas West, it passes under a set of railway tracks…
and of course another underpass means another mural.

It is an Art Starts project “honouring the Junction and paying homage to its industrial past rooted in the railway and celebrating its development as a diverse neighbourhood oriented community. ”  Lead artists Joshua Barndt and Jamie Bradbury along with 5 youth artists took 4 weeks to complete the mural.

mural on a concrete wall beside a sidewalk, just before the road goes under an underpass - large purple triangel, drawing of a locomotive and a couple of gears

The mural was funded by the City of Toronto’s Graffiti Transformation Program.

mural on a concrete wall beside a sidewalk, just before the road goes under an underpass, gears, plus a stylized industrial machine in black and blue

mural on a wall showing a picture of worker in a hard hat, reaching upwards, standing on a pile of bicycle wheels.

mural on the wall of an underpass, in the Junction, on Dupont, a line drawing of a railway car, with a large blue bike superimposed on top of it, a person holding a stop sign,

Cycling is used as a theme and as a way of traveling from the past to the future in the mural.

mural on the walls of an underpass, orange metal bridge, mural of cyclists riding their bikes

mural under a bridge of people riding bikes

a wall of an underpass curves as it exits the railway bridge. on the curve is the continuation of a mural that was painted on the walls of the underpass. Windmills and bikes.

mural on a curved concrete wall, beside an intersection, showing windmills with bike parked in front, and a forest with some animals in it, fox and wolf

below: The final panel in the mural, a future friendly city.

part of a mural, the word city is used to make a futuristic urban scene in blue tones. The future is friendly.

logo of two black gears side by side with the words Art Starts written across the middle of them. a small graffiti painting of a girl's head with a heart above it

under bridge, under school

Posted: December 25, 2015 in graffiti and street art, landmarks
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Playing hookey, spray paint cans in hand, under the bridge.

 

steps behind a school

long wooden staircase going downhill in autumn with lots of dead leaves on the ground

On the Bayview Extension, a black car drives under the Bloor Viaduct, past concrete supports with graffiti on them.

graffiti on concrete bridge supports, block letters

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature in yellow and orange with the words: One love to [heart] and for my best friend Gracie

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature with black face and covered in green leaves, with a few purple petals on top of the head. words, RIP Julian Waxhead, as well as a pink and black geometric street art painting

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - creature with black face and covered in green leaves, with a few purple petals on top of the head. words, RIP Julian Waxhead

graffiti on concrete bridge supports

graffiti on concrete bridge supports

graffiti on concrete bridge supports - with words totally busted oren

stencils on concrete, in red, words that say: Police Chiefs are Freemasons

stencil, on concrete, in red, words that sat: Don't steal it's the gov't's job

graffiti under a bridge, light blue character

graffiti under a bridge, black deveilish face with horns, beard and teeth, black face, white details, red around it

line drawing of a skinny man wearing a top hat beside head of a caricature of Queen Elizewbth in green and yellow. The words, Crack Kills

graffiti in the corner of a bridge support, concrete,

 

hand written sign duct taped to a chain link fence that reads: Apologies to the graffiti art people. It's that time of year again that city makes us clean up. But... clean slate 101. Peace.
below: On two sides, back and front, of the same post.

Two sides of the same pole. One side has a stencil in red that says Objects in Space. The other side has the same stencil, but in reverse.

graffiti under a raised parking lot

looking up at the metal cross bar supports for the wire fence along the Bloor Viaduct

Toronto Historical commission sign about the history of the Prince Edward Viaduct, a bronze plaque posted on the brick wall, interior, of Castle Frank subway station.

 

transcription of the plaque:

The Prince Edward Viaduct
Designed by Edmund Burke architect, and Thomas Taylor, construction engineer, the Price Edward Viaduct was opened on 18 October 1918. The Viaduct joined Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue from Sherbourne Street to Broadview Avenue, to provide easy access to the rapidly expanding suburbs east of the Do River. The Bloor section, carried on an earthen embankment, stretched eastward from Sherbourne to Parliament Streets. The Don section supported by a bridge 494 metres long, extends westward from Broadview Avenue. The Rosedale section, with a bridge span of 177 metres, forms a connecting link between them. On the recommendation of Jacob and Davies, consulting engineers, provision for a lower second deck was incorporated into the viaduct to carry subway trains. This foresight proved to be of inestimable value in building the Bloor-Danforth subway line 50 years later.
Toronto Historical Board, Toronto Transit Commission, 1981

Robert Home Smith

Posted: July 17, 2015 in history, public art
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Robert Home Smith (1877 – 1935) was a lawyer, business man, civil servant, and land developer.   In the early 1900’s he acquired 3000 acres of land along the Humber River, from Lake Ontario north to what is now Eglinton Ave. 

 A mural has been painted by Emilia Jajus on Royal York Road as it passes under the train tracks close to Dundas West.  The east side of the underpass is finished and it depicts Robert Home Smith and some of the effects that he had on the area.

below:  At the south end of the mural there is a portrait of Robert Home Smith.  A young girl can be seen hiding behind the trunk of a large tree.   Because the tree is painted on the corner, you can’t see the young boy who is hiding on the other side of the tree until you get closer to the mural.

part of a mural on an underpass, including a portrait of a man, Robert Home Smith

part of an historical mural on an underpass, two kids are playing, one on either side of a large tree that has been painted on the corner.

 below: Part of the mural, fishing in the Humber River by the bridge at the Old Mill.  The bridge was built in 1916 after an older bridge was washed out in a storm.  It is still there.

part of a mural showing a stone bridge over a river, the Humber River. A man is fishing in the river from the shore.

Part of the land that he owned was the site of the King’s Mill.  This mill was built in 1793 on orders from Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe.  It was to mill lumber for the proposed town of York.    Here, Home Smith built the Old Mill Hotel as well as the  the Old Mill Tea Room.  The tea room was opened on 4 Aug 1914, the same day that Britain declared war on Germany.

below:  Part of the mural, the Old Mill Hotel

part of a mural that shows the Old Mill hotel, a tudor style two storey building with the lower part being made of stone

below: The Old Mill hotel in 1945

Copy of a 1945 photo of the Old Mill hotel in Toronto

photo from the City of Toronto Archives

Robert Home Smith planned to develop the land on both sides of the Humber River (known as the Humber Valley Surveys) into residential lots that were aimed at affluent buyers.  Although he died before the completion of this project, the neighbourhood of Kingsway as well as parts of Swansea, Baby Point, and Humber Village, still stand.

part of a mural showing a two storey stone house with fake tudor upper storey, in autumn, with tree with orange leaves beside the house.

The parkland that is adjacent to the Humber River as it curves around Baby Point is named Home Smith Park in memory of this man.

below:   A poor quality photo showing a view of the whole mural.   A replacement photo is needed, one taken on a day when there aren’t so many shadows!

picture of a mural painted an the wall of an underpass.

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.

an old Mimico bridge

Posted: June 8, 2015 in locations, public art
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This railway bridge is on Royal York Rd, south of Evans Ave. and close to the Mimico GO station.  The mural that is there was painted in 2005 and is now showing signs of age.  A lot of the paint is peeling badly.

A man checks his phone while walking past a mural under a bridge

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - a group of young people standing in front of some tall buildings as well as some head shapes with words on them.

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - a multiracial group of 5 young men also two fists coming together in the forground, one dark brown and one light brown. The word respect is written on one of the arms.

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - railway workers including a close up of a person's head - wearing a railway cap

part of an old mural where the paint is starting to peel - a railway locomotive with a workman beside it.
colourful street art on the side of a bridge

Project of Lamp Community Health Center,
funded by City of Toronto Graffiti Transformation Project,
with thanks to Mimico Residents Association, United Way, and Toronto Community Housing.

lovebot, grominator and those in between

Posted: May 24, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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Lovebot and Grominator seem to have developed a friendship.
They have begun appearing in public together.

A graffiti painting on a white garage door, a yellow lovebot with red heart and a red face grominator with blue eyes and blue mouth and teeth
Lovebot seems to have had an influence on Grominator.

A grominator figure wheatpaste, black drawing on white, including body, arms and stubby little legs. He has 3 lovebot hearts, 2 1/2 are red

on Queen St. West near Dufferin

But they can still be found on their own, all over town.

A wheatpaste lovebot of hearts playing card way up high on a wall

a yellow grominator graffiti painting, yellow with black and white bulging eyes

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

 

A large lovebot on a brick wall on Dundas West. Included is a circuit drawing (electrical) around him.

at 1505 Dundas West

 

a very large lovebot painted on a wall. He is close to two storeys tall.

on Brock Ave., near Dundas West

A large lovebot on a concrete support under a bridge by a river

on the Humber River

 

A No parking sign on a very red wall. Sign says "authorized parking only" and someone has put 2 lovebot stickers on it.

 We’ll keep an eye open for other lovebot and grominator sightings!

under the Millwood Bridge

Posted: May 14, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Millwood Bridge
also known as the Leaside Bridge

I first visited this site late in March.  For one reason or another I didn’t get around to adding the photos that I took that day to this blog.  I was back yesterday on another grey day.  There are now leaves on the trees and the graffiti on the concrete has been painted over.

looking along the length of the bridge from just underneath it at one end. Sloping ground in the picture, as are concrete supports and the metal steel girders supporting the road above.

below:  The Don River flows under the bridge.  In the distance, top right, is the Don Valley Parkway.

steel girders under the Millwood bridge with the train tracks and Don River below. Lots of bolts holding this bridge together!

graffiti on the yellow girders under the bridge. The concrete supports at the end of the bridge are also visible and also covered with graffit.

yellow girder in the foreground, the cat walk and metal structure of the bridge in the background. Graffit on the girder including the word 'scarey' in white letters.

Catwalk under the Millwood bridge, looking down almost the whole length of it. A person is on the catwalk in the distance.

yellow metal girder covered with scribbles in black, red, and green.
There was also some graffiti and street art on the concrete supports at the north end of the bridge.  These have now been painted over.  The graffiti on the metal portions of the bridge remains.

below: Two of the paintings that are now gone.

Street art painting of an eagle attacking a snake.

graffiti tag that says Mozie in large letters, blue on the top and a dark burgundy colour on the bottom

Lovebot didn’t want to stick to the paint on the girder but he hung around long enough to get a picture.

lovebot sticker on a yellow metal girder under a bridge

under Glen Road

Posted: May 11, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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All bridges have a character of their own including the Glen Road bridge.

below: Looking east toward Glen Road from the Beltline Trail that follows the Yellow Creek.  Photo taken a couple of weeks ago just before the leaves started growing.

trail beside a creek in a ravine with lots of trees in early spring before there are any leaves on the trees. A woman is walking two dogs on the trail and in the distance there is a bridge over the ravine.

The following photos were taken under the north side of the bridge. On the day that I was there, it was impossible to cross the creek – something to do in the future!

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - words 'power to the creative people"
graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - large symbol with eye, yellow sun and serpent like shapes, high on a pillar up near the green metal girders of the bridge

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - looking up from under the bridge - some graffiti on the concrete pillars but they are hidden behind the green metal girders.

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - stencil of a little green alien and the words, "I want to believe"

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - along the back wall, mostly tags, one picture of a man's face that has a big grey X through it. On the ground in a corner is a mattress covered with a blanket or sleeping bag.

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - tags around the base of the pillars

whos yo daddy? graffiti

graffiti under a bridge

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - colourful tags. Some are older and are starting to peel

graffiti on the concrete supports under a bridge - a pile of trash beside graffiti covered sections of the bridge

Summerhill faces

Posted: April 22, 2015 in graffiti and street art
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The last time I ventured into a Toronto ravine on my own the path was a icy so I didn’t go far.  Now the ravines are clear of snow and ice – just watch out for the mud!  I was under the railway bridge at Summerhill (just east of Yonge St) this past weekend and I encountered a number of people and faces.
graffiti painting of a scuba diver swimming under water, under a bridge

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - the smiley face is on a spray paint can, a large finger is on the trigger.

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - three supports in a row are visible. In the foreground is a simple drawing of a man's head in blacks and greys, the next pillar has a more elaborate man in blues

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - wild blue eyes and red lips with wavy skin, with the trees, creek and path through the ravine in the background.

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - looking up from below so there are a large number of supports visible. A line drawing of a man's head is on one of the pillars

Graffiti faces on concrete pillars supporting a bridge - A white head of a person with pointy ears and a scowl on its face, more graffiti is visible in the background.

Two large abstract faces on a cement pillar. The faces are white ovals, with a red outline. THe features are in black line drawings

Sticker on a teal coloured metal box. Sticker has triangle inside a circle. The triangle is made into a face, big open mouth with cigarette clenched between the teeth. Around the circle are the words 'Smok'em if ya got 'em. Verbs

Sanko wall

Posted: March 20, 2015 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Mural on the wall of the Sanko Trading Company
(a Japanese Canadian business, since 1968),
corner of Claremont and Queen St. West,

Looking across a city intersection to a store on the corner that has a large mural painted on the side of it. Many Japanese motifs, many colours too.
There are many Japanese motifs in the mural including sushi.

sushi street art, part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs.

A robot is at the door.

Street art, part of Japanese-Canadian mural, of a robot looking down at the door.

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. left part of the mural

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. Arched bridge over a stream with a fish jumping out of the water, Japanese maple tree beside the water, street art, large mural

part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs. A girls face. Her hair is pink and blue and she has big green eyes.

blog_sanko_awning

looking up the side of a two storey building to the underside of the overhang above. part of a mural on the side of a store on a corner lot that has a number of Japanese motifs.

Painted by Ken Galloway, Timothy Fukakusa, Mitsuo Kimura, Takashi Iwasaki, Darcy Obokata, and Shogo Okada in the winter of 2013-2014

More on the Japantown Mural

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