I went back to Graffiti Alley the other day.
When I was just east of Niagara Street I noticed these eyes looking at me.
A small blue Stickman sneaks into the photo too!
Three faces painted on a garage door by Jon Todd.
by Jimmy Chiale
…and a mouth too!
Links for more information
On Queen St. West, just before it meets Roncesvalles Ave., is the Corona Restaurant and Nightclub. Along the wall of this building are a number of pieces of street art. Only a small section is visible from the street.
If you follow the alley that runs behind Queen St., you will find more street art alongside the same building.
The back part is a mural entitled ‘Destination Mammal Cabana’ by Birdo, Spudbomb and SKE1. It was painted in 2012.
On the north wall of the same building…..
If you look closely at the above picture, on the right hand side metal pole supporting the landing, is a sticker. Below, that sticker up close.
Looking west along the alley towards Roncesvalles Ave.
but if you walk slightly west, away from Roncesvalles, you will encounter two more pieces by Birdo. The ‘Dreamer’ is on the same building as the Destination Mammal Cabana that is pictured above.
In an alley to the southeast of Huron St. and Dundas West is a mural of the Great Wall of China. It is 147 feet long (almost 45 m) and 12 feet high.
Chinatown BIA.
Mural painted by Blinc Studios artists: Allan Bender, John Nobrega, Rick Sauve, Brian Broders, Jesse McQuaig and Ming Lau.
Painted in the summer of 2013.
Bare branches, snow, and sometimes blue sky –
things that usually only come together in winter.
Views that are hidden behind summer leaves are revealed in winter’s barrenness.
Trees take on a different character when they have no leaves
and they cast a different shadow.
Toronto is a city of trees. They are everywhere, and a surprising number of them are large, mature trees.
When we think of trees we usually think of shade on a hot day, or maybe the joy that spring buds bring, or maybe the rustle of fallen leaves in the autumn. The winter tree is often overlooked but they too add to the character of this city.
Graffiti in a Cabbagetown lane.
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Behind 509 Dance, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre on Parliament Street.
Chinatown Mural
2011 by Alexa Hatanaka and Aaron Li-Hill
Commissioned by the Chinatown BIA & located in an alley near Dundas & Spadina.
The mural is based on scenes from everyday life in Toronto’s Chinatown.
I walked around the corner and down a small dead end lane and this is what I saw.
near St. Clair West
Wile E. Coyote is still chasing the roadrunner…..
right out of Looney Tunes and onto a wall in a Toronto lane.
The Ontario Bread Company is located near Dundas and Ossington.
It had an Ossington Ave address but it is surrounded by lanes.
In September of 2013 it went out of business. The building is still there but it is empty.
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Lovebot is now on their mailbox!
The bakery was founded in 1935 by Polish immigrants and they specialized in Polish, and other Eastern European, breads. BlogTO did an interesting piece about the bakery in August 2013.
There is a lumber yard adjacent to the bakery on the same lane.
What follows are some of the photos that I took as I walked the “block” of lanes around the bakery and the lumber yard. Some of the graffiti has been there for a few years.
A view of the back wall.
The words on this one say “It’s a bittersweet symphony”
This pair stands under the shower in a quiet corner.
Rob Ford may no longer be mayor, but his legacy lives on …. in the form of anti-Ford graffiti.
This piece is on Rolyat Street, just north of the Ontario Bread Co.
The last two pieces of street art are in a neighbouring lane, just to the northwest.
Irene Ave. is a short street that runs behind the north side of Bloor Street West between Carling and Shaw streets, just east of Ossington Avenue. Irene Avenue Parkette takes up most of the south side of Irene Avenue. There is an alley that runs between the park and the back of the stores on Bloor West.
The Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre, through the Graffiti Arts portion of their LOFT program, has sponsored a number of murals in this alley.
This is what it looked like on a cold afternoon last week.
The next picture was taken in June of 2012.
The mural is still there but I couldn’t take a proper photo of it last week as there was a car parked too close.
When I walked around the block to check out the fronts of these buildings, this is what I found
A mural by Elicser and to the right the LOFT Youth Centre for Social Enterprise and Innovation.
as I walk Toronto 