Posts Tagged ‘McCaul’

womxn in the lane

Posted: September 4, 2018 in graffiti and street art
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Or more specifically, #womxnpaintto recent laneway project

I had heard about this event but I was away in mid-August which was the week that it occurred.  I knew that it was on a lane off McCaul but I couldn’t remember where.  McCaul isn’t that long so I started walking north at Queen.  At Dundas, this is what I saw:

below: The edge of a mural by Emily May Rose beckons you to come and take a closer look.

a mural by Emily May Rose of figures of woman on a black background on the side of a building, a fence runs parallel to it, entrance ways to buildings

I knew that I was in the right place when I saw the word (is it a word?)  #womxnpaintto painted on the ground.  So I followed the little yellow arrow and walked behind the buildings to a lane running east/west behind Dundas Street.

below: The mural is higher than the fence by quite a bit so as I walked beside the fence I was able to take this picture.

part of a mural by Emily May Rose of dancing female figures on a black background

below: Three murals on a double garage.  On the right is a woman with blue and orange rays by @dbetty13 (aka Désiré Betty).  The other woman, the one with the wild turquoise hair was painted by toest (aka Sarah Gilmore).  On the side of the building, partially obscured by the car is a mural painted by @nightarcade (aka Sarah Cannon).

An alley way with a double garage and a car parked beside it, high rise buildings behind it, a young man walking past it. Each door is painted with a mural of a woman's head, one by Desire Betty (dbetty13) and the other by Sarah Gilmore, or toest. On the side of the garage is another mural, this one by nightarcade, Sarah Cannon,

below: An attempt to get a closer look at the side of the garage (with St. Patricks RC church in the background).

part of a mural by nightarcade, Sarah Cannon, black background, large pink wild rose, striped mushrooms, and lots of green leaves

below: A fence with some murals –  starting at the end with ” What You Do is Magic” by Shelby McLeod.  Magic hands perhaps.

below: Next, six figures by Wenting Li

below: A tiny crown on long red hair, a bathing tattooed woman by Natalie Very B

part of a mural by natalieveryb, in red and white, a woman, with long red hair, eyes closed, in black water, with red leaves

below: The white words on the black building behind the painted fence wasn’t part of the project.  The quote is from the Electric Prunes and it says “I had too much to dream last night.”

fence with murals painted on it, large buildings behind it,

a gold coloured van is parked beside a fence that has three murals painted on it, in an alley

old two storey brick building in a lane with upper window and lower single door. Door has a street art piece on it as does whole lower level, a garage on either side of it each with the door covered in a new mural

below: According to the door, Everything is political.  Lauren Pirie painted the mural beside the door.

a white door with words that say Everything is political, also a large mural painted beside the door, two figures amongst pink, yellow and pale blue curly vines and leaves, abtract

below: Flowers painted by @thepaintedlime (aka Tennille Dowers)

a painting by @thepainted lime, lime, on a garage door, flowers on a dark background,

below: A swampy street art piece by Diana Lynn VanderMeulen

three murals in a lane

a grey car is parked in front of a double garage, each door has a mural painted on it

below: Long dark blue hair on a pale blue profile painted by Gosia Komorski

a mural on a garage door of a pale blue woman in profile, with long flowing dark blue hair, symbols and concentric designs in her hair around her face

small street art painting on the side of a building, woman with long swirly pink and purple hair, eyes closed, stylized

below: Many active women cover the front of this garage; painted by Erin McCluskey

garage front covered with a mural by Erin McCluskey, black background, then figures of women in pink, yellow and pale blue, dancing, playing, flying, jumping,

below: @laceyandlaylaart (Lacey Jane and Layla Folkmann) painted this large face, wrinkles and all

a large face of an older person, eyes, nose, mouth and wrinkles, covers the whole front of a garafe, in prange, blues, and purple, the work of Lacey & Layla,

laneway in toronto with some garages with murals on them, tall buildings in background, utility poles and wires,

below: Grow through what you go through by, with love by @bkez  (Bareket Kezwer) and @_muisca_

mural in pink and pale blue, with some greenand yellow flowers. Large words that say Grow through what you go through.

below: Herons and geese cover a garage, painted by Andrea Manica and Caitlin Taguibao

alley mural on a garage, herons and geese,

I’ve been able to put some names to some artwork.  A list of all the other women:  Cindy Scaife, Curtia Wright, Delazed, Jacquie Comrie, Jei Escalante, Monica Wickeler, MSKA, and Aura & Chief Ladybird.

This project was supported by StreetARToronto and Mural Routes

part of a mural, two orange geese on a door, black and orange, alley

foggy McCaul

Posted: March 28, 2017 in alleys, graffiti and street art, history, old buildings, windows and walls
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It was a foggy morning when I walked down McCaul Street.
The CN Tower had its head in the clouds.

looking south on McCaul street towards the CN tower, the top of the tower is covered in low cloud.

below: As I walked south on McCaul, this wall caught my eye.  It’s in an alley that runs perpendicular to McCaul but it can be seen from the street.

A quote by Voltaire in large capital letters, Anything too stupid to be spoken is sung.

below: There are a number of small lanes and alleys in the area and like most alleys, there was graffiti to be found such as these two animals – a whale and a bird having a friendly chat.

Two roughly drawn graffit animals on a wall, a duck and a whale, both in white paint with red details

below: Bugs Bunny is easy to find; he’s on McCaul.

mural of bugs bunny lying on the ground, head on elbow, eating a carrot

below: Just around the corner from the Wascally Wabbit is the Cat in the Hat from the Dr. Suess book of the same name.  This time, the cat’s mischief involves a can of spray paint.   Extra info: yes, you can still get Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Toronto.

mural of the cat from the cat in the hat, the kids book by Dr. Suess, he's holding a can of spray paint.

below: More Dr. Suess, this time Thing 1 and Thing 2.  They are on the same mural as the Cat in the Hat and are running towards him.

thing 1 anf thing 2 from Dr. Suess Cat in the Hat in a mural on the side of a building.

below: Once upon a time you could smell fresh bread when you walked down McCaul but now Silversides bakery sits empty.

empty brick building, with ghost of sign that said Silversides in cursive writing,

below: Old row houses on Baldwin Street.  Most of the remaining old houses on Baldwin, especially those close to McCaul, have been converted into restaurants.

row houses on Baldwin street, three storey old brick houses with gabled roofs. One is now a restaurant.

below: A cheerful yellow house – another example of the older houses in the neighbourhood.

a small yellow bungalow is between two largeer and taller houses. It has a hedge in front and a yellow awning over the front door.

below: More colours…. evenly divided in pink and yellow.  They share a gable and a porch, both of which have interesting details in the woodwork.

a semi divided house, one side pink and the other side yellow, the gable of the house belongs half to one side and half to the other

below:  There’s not as much paint on these houses.  Instead, there is two coloured  brick pattern on all walls of the front of the house.  I wonder how many other houses have brick patterns hiding under their paint?

large semi divided brick house with a center gable and woodedn porch, also wooded oriel window over the front door. Two colours in the brick work, eachhouse has painted wood a different colour

below: The sign beside the door says: Chinese Seniors Health & Recreation Association of Ontario.  An old Bell telephone booth sits on the corner.

old Bell telephone booth in front of a large semi divided three story house, painted white, fence in front, bikes parked against fence

below: The blue wall of the Art Gallery of Ontario as seen from the other side of Grange Park.  Grange Park has been under renovation for a number of months now but it is looking like it is close to completion.  Part of the renovation has involved creating a new space for Henry Moore’s sculpture, Large Two Forms, which sits on the corner of Dundas and McCaul at the moment.   The couple in this photo caught my eye because she’s in shorts and he’s in a parka with the hood up.

two people are walking up a wide path in a park, Grange Park, with the blue wall of the Art Gallery in the distance

below: Another Grange Park upgrade is the playground.

new playground in Grange Park with the box on pencil structure of OCAD behind it.

below: A lonely urban tree hiding amongst the clutter on the sidewalk.

a lonely tree grows out of a square of dirt on the sidewalk, street scene around it.

below: A large mural celebrating the Ride to Conquer Cancer covers the wall beside the entrance to the parking lot of Princess Margaret Hospital.

very large mural for the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer showing scenes from a fund raising bike ride. Men and women and their bikes

below: This is painted in a slightly different style than the one above!

a mural showing a scantily dressed large breasted blonde woman kneeling amongst red mushrooms.

below: Sitting beside the anser face.

two pieces of street art, an anser face on one side, and a painting of a long haird blond woman sitting in a chair beside it, her back is to the viewer

below: More faces, this time two faces merged into one.

a line drawing graffiti of two faces merged into one, 2 noses, trhee eyes, two mouths,

below: Someone also has a homonym problem.

graffiti on a metal box on the sidewalk says I new this would happen. the words don't fit across the box and the en in happen are written below it

below: Not just a poser bunny, but an honest poser bunny.

a green piece of metal attached to a wood hydro pole with a white drawing of a poser bunny on it. The word honest in white letters is written beside the bunny

below: A lone survivor.  The Richard Purdom House is the last house standing on this stretch of McCaul.  Richard Purdom was the architect and original owner of the house (1877).  It is a heritage building that “displays features of the Italinate style”.  Most of the buildings around it are hospital buildings (Mt. Sinai and Princess Margaret).  There is usually a car parked in front.

old brick house in front, modern hospital buildings in the background

below: Another bit of history – the bell tower of St. George the Martyr Anglican Church stands near the south entrance of Grange Park.   The original church first opened its doors here in 1845.  It could seat 750 people and the tower was topped with a spire that reached 150 feet.  In the early morning of 13 Feb 1955, the church burned.   The new church is behind the tower and part of the grounds is now a garden dedicated to the memory of the old church and its early congregations

old brick bell tower of a church. The church burned down many years ago, leaving the tower. A new church was built behind but you can't see it in the picture

below: Just before the end of the post…  I’m throwing in one window picture because every walk needs a window as much as this wall needs a fresh coat of paint!

two windows with brown frames on a cream coloured wall with the paint peeling to reveal the red brick beneath

Toronto street sign, McCaul St.

say it ain’t so

Posted: October 15, 2016 in locations, public art
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First I heard a rumour that the Art Gallery of Ontario was going to remove that sculpture from the corner of Dundas & McCaul, you know, the one that everyone climbs on and takes their picture with, the one near the AGO entrance.

Then I read about in a newspaper.

You know, that curvy bulky slippery thing by Henry Moore, the one with a title that’s almost as shapeless as the sculpture, “Large Two Forms” although no one calls it that.   Oh, what do they call it anyhow?

Then I read about it online.

people are walking on the sidewalk, a woman is sitting by a sculpture by Henry Moore, the Art Gallery Of Ontario is beside the sculpture, street and other buildings in the background, street scene,

It’s sat on that corner since 1974.  That’s 42 years.  Longer than the average Torontonian has been alive.
Can you say synonymous? …. as in synonymous with the corner of Dundas and McCaul.

Apparently it’s going to be moved to Grange Park.  That’s the park behind the AGO, the one that is being renovated.

The expression “Rob Peter to Pay Paul” comes to mind.
How about new public art for a renewal of the park?

fence around a construction site, a park that is being renovated

fence around a construction site, a park that is being renovated, the blue wall of the Art Gallery of Ontario is in the background.

But walking the site and looking at the plans made me start to think.  The sculpture is being moved into its own space in the park and as I looked at the drawings and the artist rendition of the future space, it dawned on me that the redesign of Grange Park was possibly (probably?) done specifically to accommodate the sculpture.  The Art Gallery owns Grange Park after all.  Toronto does a lousy job of placement of their public art so maybe I shouldn’t complain about this?

Maybe.

As I tried to take photos of the sculpture where it is, I was reminded of how the streetscape in Toronto gets short shrift.

blog_art_gallery_corner

Henry Moore competes with old poles as well as bus shelters that are designed to maximize Astral Media ads.  At least there isn’t a ghastly trash bin beside the sculpture.  And at least the art is solid enough and strong enough to hold its own.

But this is going to be a problem for any artwork that gets put on that corner.
Oh dear, assuming that something will replace Henry Moore?

Don’t mess it up even more AGO, don’t leave the corner empty.
We have more of a cultural memory than you give us credit for.