mural | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘mural’

Miriam Garfinkle

Posted: October 29, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art
Tags: Adrian Hayles, alley, bird nest, birds, BJR, BJR artist, cedar eve, chickadee, Christine Whiteduck, Cocreation Art, Danielle Hyde, DJNU, EGR, Esky, Gimun Ryu, Gust of Wind Studio, Hyunsun Park, Joe Rich, Julia Harper, Julia Louise Pereira, lane, Mateusz Napieralski, Miriam Garfinkle, mural, Murals by Marg, Nick Sweetman, nshtsh, Ohlordyitsjulia, owls, paint, Sarah Whang, Scofy Wallz, Shalak Attack, Shoreland Arts, street art

… is an all that is north of Bloor, between Christie and Bathurst. Recently a group of artists painted quite a few of the garage doors here. “Flight of the Winged Ones” was the theme of this Laneway Mural Jam and it was dedicated to the memory of Miriam Garfinkle. The following photos are the murals that can now be seen in this lane – in no particular order.

two women painting a street art mural on a garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane

below: This is Adrian Hayles‘ contribution to the project. Miriam Garfinkle (1954–2018) lived on Barton Avenue, in a house which backs onto this laneway, from 2000 to 2018. She lived and worked in this community for most of her life.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane

below: Sebas Perez Vicentini painted this colourful mural with two long necked birds.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane by Sebas Perez Vincenti

below: A photographer takes pictures of birds and owls in a mural by April Grace and [sorry but I couldn’t read the name].

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane by April Grace

below: “Flight of the Winged Ones” title mural.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, purple owl in flight

below: Birch trees by the water by Joe Rich

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Joe rich, landscape with birch trees and water

below: Julia Harper’s thunderbird of the heavens

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Julia Harper, stars in night sky, thunderbird in the heavens

below: An archer concentrating hard on her red bow and arrow, by Hyunsun Park

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Hyunsun Park, female archer with red bow and arrow, taking a shot, concentrating

below: Chickadees by Nick Sweetman [This is actually an artwork from a few years ago].

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Nick Sweetman, chickadees

below: Gimun Ryu – A woman and her birds.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Gimun Ryu, a woman with open hand and pink birds flying towards her

below: A very stylized graphic-like rendition of birds at a cluster of bird feeders by Gust of Wind Studio (aka Mateusz Napieralski)

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, Gust of Wind Studioak a Mateusz Napieralski

below: Garages between Clinton and Manning Streets,

street art murals on many garage doors in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

below: EGR‘s angel with a butterfly

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by EGR, an angel and a butterfly

below: ‘Kaktukopunjej’ by Veronica Orozco, in memory of Layton Stevens.

mural by Veronica Orozco, woman sitting against tree trunk while looking out over a lake, swallow flying past, against a setting sun, or it could be the moon, red handprint on woman's cheek, bird nest in tree, stars in sky

below: BJR, aka Bradley Reinhardt with a lively collection of birds in a tree – blue jay, robin, owl, cardinal, and more. A smiling grey bear and a fox are under the tree and Canada Geese are flying by. A green snake lurks under the tree.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, a lively collection of birds in a tree - blue jay, robin, owl, cardinal, and more. A smiling grey bear and a fox are under the tree and Canada Geese are flying by. A green snake lurks under the tree.

below: A blue Owl and a cardinal (with its foot in the door handle).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Bradley Reinhardt, a blue owl and a red northern cardinal

below: Ohlordyitsjulia aka Julia Louise Pereira chose a nighttime scene of blue birds flying over rooftops in the city.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Julia Pereira, night scene in city, with birds flying around

below: The large orange bird (Phoenix?) was painted by Esky.

below: Scofy Wallz, nature in the city.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Scofy Wallz, woman's portrait, Toronto skyline with lake and CN tower, birds, butterfly, milkweed

below: Faces among the hummingbirds and bright flowers, by Cocreation Art (aka Danielle Hyde).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Danielle Hyde, faces, hummingbirds and flowers

below: More birds! Painting by Shoreland Arts, (aka Thelia Shelton).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Thelia Shelton

below: A closer look at the birds perched on blue branches.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, pink and yellow birds on blue branches, Shoreland Arts

below: A fawn prances through the night sky, a nighttime apparition among the stars.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, night sky, stars, fawn

below: A whimsical look at a fat striped caterpillar who in turn is looking at the butterflies as they flit among the milkweed and goldenrod…. by Anderkaya (aka Sarah Whang).

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Sarah Whang

woman taking pictures of street art murals on garage doors in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

below: A slightly creepy winged insect that resembles a tiger face… with many eyes! As you can see, the artist was Shalak (aka Shalak Attack)

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Shalak Attack

below: The chickadees are breaking free! … by Murals by Marg,

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Murals by Marg, chickadees

below: Talie Shalmon painted a red wing blackbird and her nest of 3 blue eggs.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Talie Shalmon, s large red wing blackbird flying towards a nest withthree blue eggs in it

below: A pair of indigenous art style birds.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, indigenous art, birds

below: A big bee checks out a few flowers

below: Cedar Eve, strawberries, blueberries and a couple of strange faces.

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Cedar Eve

below: A very large bat flying over the garden, by Trina Moyan

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by Trina Moyan, a large bat flies over a garden

below: The purple painting on the right was the contribution of nshtsh (aka Nishina)

a few street art murals on garage doors in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, including a purple one by Nishina

below: A cedar waxwing and a butterfly, by Miguel Albino.

Miguel Albino, street art mural, cedar waxwing bird and a butterfly, on a wood fence in Miraim Garfinkle lane

street art mural, birch trees, with orange circle in the middle, faces in the circle, feathers too

two women paintingstreet art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

below: mmm

street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane, by DJNU, a bird with a crested head

two men working on garages and back fence, surrounded by street art mural on garage door in Miriam Garfinkle Lane,

With apologies to the artists whose names I didn’t know.

Ecology and Equilibrium

Posted: October 24, 2026 in graffiti and street art
Tags: Allan Gardens, Carleton St., Ecology of Us, equilibrium, Jarus, mural, Okuda, Okuda San Miguel, StART, STEPS Public Art, streetARToronto

As you walk west on Carleton Street from Sherbourne, this is the view – Allan Gardens on the left and downtown Toronto straight ahead. One of the dominant features of this view is the large mural; it was painted by Okuda (aka Okuda San Miguel) in 2018 and is called “Equilibrium”.

A little bit farther west, and another mural comes into view. As you get closer to Homewood, look right and look up.

A giant maple tree in autumn foliage now grows up the south wall of 140 Carleton Street. This is a much newer mural, “Ecology of Us”. Jarus painted this wonderful 22 storey tree this past month.

It is best viewed from Allan Gardens where the trees are also wearing their October finery these days. In fact, the tree in the mural is based on one of the maple trees here in the park.

The “Ecology of Us” project is part of the StreetARToronto (StART) Monumental
Program. This program funds large-scale, high-rise building murals across Toronto in collaboration with building owners (in this case, WJ Properties). This is their second large mural in the city.

“Equilibrium” can also be seen from Allan Gardens. It pokes its head up over the roof of one of the greenhouses.

To see the whole of “Equilibrium”, you have to walk over to Jarvis Street because Grace Toronto Church, and other buildings, are in the way.

Okuda was the lead artist; he was assisted by Adrian Hayles, Kayla Buium, and Stephanie Bellefleur. It was funded largely by STEPS Public Art

Eglinton LRT to Keelesdale

Posted: September 24, 2026 in locations, stores, transportation
Tags: Eglinton Ave West, escalator, Keele St., Keelesdale station, LRT, Moises Frank, Moorish Science Temple, mosque, mural, people, restaurants, stores, Tinnel's, tracks, trains, York Memorial Collegiate

The western terminus of the Eglinton LRT is Mount Dennis station (at Weston Road).

below: On the concourse level of Mount Dennis station is “Up to This Moment” which is an art installation created by artists Hadley + Maxwell. It is made of words.

below: Phrases like “In one continuous poem”, “When Earth began”, and “In smooth and measured strains” appear here …. Apparently Ovid’s epic poem “Metamorphoses” was the inspiration/source for this installation and it functions “a meditation on creation, destruction, and community renewal”. “Metamorphoses” was written in Latin about 2000 years ago and it chronicles the myths/history of the known world at that time. It is long – there are over 250 myths in 15 books (and almost 12,000 lines of poetry).

below: Waiting for the driver at the end of the line.

below: The first part of the LRT is above ground. Shortly after Mount Dennis, tracks diverges and one set leads to the TTC Maintenance and Service Facility for the Eglinton LRT. After this split, the main line goes underground.

below: Up the escalator at the first station east of Mount Dennis – Keelesdale at Eglinton and Keele.

below: The station entrance on the northeast corner of Keele and Eglinton follows the same architectural style (if you can call it style) as the other stations along that line. York Memorial Collegiate is in the background.

below: Large sections of York Memorial Collegiate suffered extensive damage in a fire back in May 2019. Reconstruction is underway but the school has not reopened yet. Maybe in the spring?

below: They don’t make them like that anymore – York Memorial was built in 1929 in memory of those who died in WW1. A number of additions have been added over the years.

below: “Sharing Stories of Migration” is a mural at Keele and Eglinton by Moises Frank. It shows a West African drummer and educator Saikou Saho, with a student. A Canada goose flies behind them. Those geese are everywhere!

below: It looks like a collage of faded and weathered bits and pieces left over from other projects.

below: Eglinton, looking east to Keele and beyond.

below: Vybes be vibe-ing; Vybes be positive

below: Bright! … red and white tiles

below: Eglinton West gateway marker

below: Northside of Eglinton, looking west towards Keele.

below: Stores and businesses on Eglinton West including the Sun-Light Bakery with it’s Jamaican flag sign, Emeye’s Injera and Mini Mart where you can buy spices and teff flour, and Caribbean Cuisine that announces that it’s jerk chicken is authentic Jamaican.

below: Tinnel’s Jamaican beef patties, Unique Fashion, … and shopping is easy at Easy Shoping Discount,

below: Psychic Sada Guru, Indian spiritual healer and astrologer who is “young, dynamic trusted”.

below: “Se habla Espanol”

below: The Moorish Science Temple of America has a presence on Eglinton West. This religion believes (among other things) that African Americans are descended from the “Moroccan Empire”.

below: More stores. Rose Discount & Variety (Have a KitKat!) and Elegant Spa & Studio.

below: … and restaurants … Madras Curry, an Indian restaurant, as well as JJ’s Fried Chircken, a Korean restaurant

below: Jamaican touches in the window

below: Two flags at the door, Granada and Jamaica

below: This lonely and forlorn looking building sits on the southwest corner of Eglinton and Keele. The City of Toronto purchased this lot back in 2015 for $2.625 million. Eleven years ago they bought it for the 12 parking spaces that it contains, plus potential for future development (source: pdf from city online files). It’s a dismal looking corner.

below: Nothing is safe….. This isn’t on the old TD Canada Trust building in the above photo. It is across Keele Street from it.

below:Lord Help Us beside a Kiss

below: Christmas greetings all year long.

below:Does anyone burn CDs anymore?

below: Jesus House

below:Lester Avenue, north of Eglinton, looking west.

below: A very small house!

below: This garage keeps an eye on the street, 24/7.

below:Masjid El-Noor

below: Linda DeLellis (1964-1996) was a local resident who was an innocent victim of a drug-related shooting; she was standing in her driveway when it happened.

below: Back into the LRT station and it is a LONG WAY DOWN!

below: The austere, barren and boring (but maybe less expensive??) LRT station

animals under the 401

Posted: June 15, 2026 in graffiti and street art
Tags: animals, Bathurst Street, bats, bears, birds, cat, cows, fox, frog, lizard, mural, Nick Sweetman

There are two large murals by Nick Sweetman that cover both sides of Bathurst street as it passes under the 401 highway. The murals are a collection of animals – birds, frogs, cows, cats, foxes, bats, tigers, and more. This blogpost is a selection of images from those two walls.

Sanko trading company

Posted: May 28, 2026 in graffiti and street art
Tags: aligator, Canada goose, cat, eyes, fish, food, gates, JapanTown mural, mural, noodles, origami, Queen Street West, Sanko trading company, sushi, wave

below: People walking on Queen Street West. Do you think that they realize that a large yellow eye is watching them from behind? This is the eye of a very large painting of a cat, probably a Japanese cat.

The mural, the JapanTown mural on the side of the Sanko Trading Company, has been re-painted. The previous mural dates from 2013/4. A blog post with photos of what that looked like in 2015 is at: Sanko Wall. This blog post should give you an idea what it looks like now.

The group of artists (‘The Summit’) who painted the mural also made a video for youtube: The JapanTown Project No. 5

changes, again… and again….

Posted: May 15, 2026 in construction, intersections, locations, stores
Tags: Annesley Hall, architecture, Bloor St., brutalist, concrete, condos, construction, COR, Cottage Lane, Cumberland Street, downtown, Flavelle House, glass towers, Justus Becker, La Scala, Manulife centre, mural, Museum subway station, Planetarium, Robert Barron stables, ROM, St. Nicholas St., stores, William McElcheran, windows, Yonge St.

After I got off the subway at Bloor but before I got to the street, the first construction change of the day hit me in the face (luckily not literally!). Bloor Street East is now a mess.

below: “The Bay” sign has been removed from the old store. Founded in 1670 to control the fur trade in the area, the Hudson Bay Company used to lay claim to being North America’s oldest continuously operating company. The company went bankrupt late in 2025 and all of their stores have closed including this one. The complex (includes 34 storeys above) was opened in 1974 and was referred to as the Hudson Bay Centre. Now it is just 2 Bloor St. East. The next question is how does one re-purpose a large windowless space on a busy street? (personal aside – I started by honeymoon at the Plaza II which was the original hotel in the complex. I won’t tell you how long ago that was, but the Quebec Nordiques were in a playoff game that day).

below: Upwards at Yonge & Bloor

Of shorts and strawberries, and hoping for spring . So far it’s been a cool (or rather cold) May.

Shorts!

below: On the south side of Bloor is another concrete building from the 1970s, the Manulife Centre, which has undergone a transformation at street level in recent years.

below: Found on the City of Toronto archives website, a photo from its early days. (As another aside, after graduating from high school, I worked for a few months at a store in the basement – back in the day when Ashleys, Creeds, and Birks had stores there. Bay Bloor Radio may be the sole survivor?)

vintage photo, faded colour, from City of Toronto Archives, manulife center at Bay and Bloor (southeast corner), concrte brutalist architecture

source: Fonds 200, Series 1465, File 750, Item 14

below: A contrast between the Manulife Centre and the new towers on the south side of Bloor (east and west of Yonge)… even the upper levels of the Hudson Bay Centre can be seen in the distance.

below: A little farther west on Bloor…. another concrete building with recessed windows. Very much the style at the time!

below: Northwest corner of Bay & Bloor with yet another concrete building from the 1960s and 1970s (1200 Bay Street was built in 1966). The last time that I walked here, the lower levels were boarded up and painted black. Now they are hiding behind a large expanse of Tiffany Blue. There are rumblings of an 87 storey tower being built here. Dutch Dutch developers Kroonenberg Group and ProWinko filed a development application with the city to build such a tower back in 2020.

below: Looking west on Cumberland Street

below: But there are things that don’t change – like cars getting stuck in an intersection on a red light.

below: Never ending renovations at the Royal Ontario Museum

below: It has been sitting empty for years. The McLaughlin Planetarium closed in 1995 after the provincial government cut its funding. It wasn’t even thirty years old at the time; it opened in 1968. It is a big cement box with a large dome on top and is not very photogenic! It was sold to the University of Toronto back in 2009 but it is only now that redevelopment is about to occur.

below: Backside view. This post has been difficult to write – so many changes. One of the reasons that I started this blog was to document the changes happening in the city. I hadn’t expected those changes to be quite so relentless. Never ending. A perpetual motion machine of changes. Are we tired of winning yet? This picture is already out of date – there are photos of the demolition popping up online now that show the dome broken open and disappearing.

below: Museum subway station is getting a new elevator entrance from the sidewalk on University Avenue in front of where the Planetarium is/was.

below: Little blue signs of spring dot the lawn. Emmanuel College (U of T) is in the background. It is affiliated with the United Church of Canada and is one of the members of the Toronto School of Theology.

below: Part of University of Toronto Law School.

below: Annesley Hall, Victoria University, U of T,was built in 1903 in the Queen Anne Revival style. Annesley Hall was the first university residence built for women in Canada and is still used as such. (What?, no changes?)

below: Charles Street West where a few original houses remain steadfast.

below: Still on Charles Street – but it is a perspective that is now very common around the city as everything moves upward, taller and taller. Egos get stoked and massaged as yet another “tallest” tower gets built, only to be outdone by someone else down the line….

below: “La Scala”by by Canadian sculptor and architect William McElcheran. The women are walking up the stairs, or walking around in circles…

below: A peak at what is behind – lots of balconies and stairs and even an upper level addition.

below: St. Nicholas Street runs parallel to Yonge, one street west. It runs south from Charles Street to Wellesley.

below: 81 St. Nicholas is this red brick building with the interesting contrasting brick detail across the top. It was built in 1912 and is known as the Robert Barron Stables. In 1889 Robert Barron built a store at Yonge and Charles. A few years later he added this building, his stables, behind the grocery store.

below: There are stretches of Yonge Street where there are many closed storefronts. This usually indicates that a developer is sitting on a chunk of properties and is in the process of accumulating more… or is waiting for approval to redevelop what he already has. Nothing moves quickly. It’s just sad to see the emptiness and decay in the meantime.

below: Filed under “learn something new everyday” is the fact that there is such a thing as soy milk volcano buns. I assume that they are $7 each and not $70!

below: Charles Street East (just east of Yonge). The large mural on the side of the apartment building is “Toronto & Stadt Frankfurt Am Main” and it was painted by Justus Becker (aka COR). The reflection within the glasses depicts the skylines of both Toronto and Frankfurt and represents the sister city relationship between the two cities. See that orange and white awning? That’s a gelato place – a fabulous gelato place!… and that is where I ended my walk, almost a circle back to Yonge & Bloor.

Dew Lang Lane and area

Posted: May 18, 2025 in alleys, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: #spud1, alley, birdo, Dew Lang Lane, Donlands, garages, graffiti, ivy, Jerry Rugg, lane, laneway, lilacs, mural, omen, omen514, pigeon, portraits, renovations, residential, stickers, subway, Temple Baptist Church, TTC, wales

Back in 2012, the city approved the naming of an alley… Dew Lang Lane. You can find this lane just north of the Danforth near Donlands. Prior to the legal change, “Dew Lang” had been used as the unofficial name by local residents. The name comes from parts of the two streets Dewhurst (Dew) and Langford (Lang) that the lane runs between.

below: Omen514’s fist bump

below: “Turn the lights off and look to the sky” by Jerry Rugg (aka Birdo) & Wales.

below: Spud1 left his mark here along with the advice, “Live, Love, Paint”.

below: Signs of spring that can’t be held back

below: In a very tight spot but bursting out.

below: One of the latest trends in urban living is the laneway house. They are popping up all over the place and this area is no exception.

below: Another trend, this one in home renovations, is building upwards. Adding a third floor or a rooftop deck is now common (and is often more noticeable from the back).

below: The repurposing of church buildings is another trend (albeit a bit older than the above two). In this case, Temple Baptist Church, opened 1925, is now residential. A small plaque in one corner of the building serves as a reminder of its original function. From the application for heritage status for the building: “Temple Baptist Church is a fine example of a revival of the Georgian Classical Style adapted for Post-Reformation churches in 18th century England.” Not many Toronto churches were built in this style.

below: The central window with its leaded coloured glass and Credit Valley stone trim around the windows.

below: A beckoning summer scene, Muskoka chairs on the dock. Have a seat and watch the sunlight play on the water.

below: Old black line drawings on old white garage.

below: The new west entrance to Donlands subway station opens onto Dewhurst.

below: Inside

below: A second pigeon…. this one wear a cheerful bright red cap as he struts around

Scarborough Mediah

Posted: February 21, 2025 in graffiti and street art
Tags: art, Evond Blake, Mediah, mural, Scarborough, street art, Warden Ave.

Seen on Warden Avenue… A building with a mural by Mediah (aka Evond Blake) on the upper level, and decorated blocks spelling ‘Scarborough’ in the front. Each letter looks to be an animal-like character.

Same building, another side. A windowless canvas for “Drift Appendar”

Same site (building with Mediah mural is just behind the container).

Feed Scarborough (part of the Scarborough Food Security Initiative, an organization that runs community gardens, food banks and many other programs).

Cliffcrest

Posted: January 28, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, history, locations, transportation
Tags: Americana Motel, Cliffcrest, Hav a Nap Motel, Henry's Motel, houses, Kingston Road, motels, mural, mural routes, radial railway, redevelopment, Scarborough, Scarborough Heritage Murals, signs, Stop 17, stores, T&YRR, winter

Cliffcrest is a neighbourhood in Scarborough that includes a section of Kingston Road between Brimley and Bellamy Roads. The southern boundary is Lake Ontario including the eastern portion of the Scarborough Bluffs.

below: At the corner of Kingston Road & St. Clair is one of the Scarborough Heritage Trail murals funded by Mural Routes. It is “In The Way of Progress” and shows a Kingston Road radial railway car at Stop 17 with Scarborough High School (later changed name to R.H. King Academy) in the background. It was painted in 1996 by Phil, Jennifer, and Jamie Richards.

below: 1922, Kingston Road looking west towards St. Clair with Scarborough High School near the intersection.

Source: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1488, series 1230, Item 2064

In 1893 the Toronto and Scarborough Electric Railway, Light and Power Company started running a one car train along Kingston Road. The tracks went as far east as West Hill. A couple of years later, this line became part of the Toronto and York Radial Railway (TYRR). The TYRR had four branches radiating from the city, one to the west, 2 northward, and this one east along Kingston Road. The stops on the Scarborough route were numbered, starting at Victoria Park Avenue. Stop 17 was at St. Clair East & Kingston Road.

below: This 1922 photo is actually from a bit farther west, at Victoria Park. What I wanted to show was how the railway tracks just ran between the road and the sidewalk. Very simple infrastructure! Not too feasible in a city, but in 1922 this neighbourhood was more rural than urban (and they still got transit!)

1922 photo of Kingston Road, looking west from Victoria Park

Source: City of Toronto Archives, Series 71, item 1607

below: You can’t see it in this photo but the mural above is on the wall of Stop 17 Variety (by the parking lot on the right).

below: From 1973, forty years ago – looking at the southeast corner of Brimley and Kingston Road. The bus is northbound on Brimley.

black and white photo by Richard Glaze taken in 1973 at the corner of Brimley and Kingston Road, found on Transit Toronto website

Photo Credit: Richard Glaze photo 1973, Transit Toronto website. If you are interested in anything to do with transit in Toronto, check out their website. They have an extensive collection of photographs, maps, and documents. They also feature all the latest news about slow downs, route changes, and service advisories (among other things).

The same motel is still on that corner of Kingston Rd and Brimley. I don’t have the exact replica photo but this is what the Hav a Nap Motel looks like now.

below: Moving slightly west, photo taken from approximately the corner of Brimley and Kingston Road.

Once upon a time, Kingston Road was a major east west route in and out of the city. There were many motels along here. Their heyday was the 1950s and the bigger, fancier ones are long gone, leaving behind some of the smaller ones.

below: As a shoutout to these motels and their stoy is this sidewalk box decorated with images of old motel signs. The Americana and the Roycroft signs can be seen on this side.

below: The Americana Motel still exists in the Cliffcrest neighbourhood (close to Brimley). The Roycroft is farther east, beyond McCowan.

below: Henry’s Motel

below: The sign of things to come.. and yes, it’s a condo with retail at street level.

below: The north side of Kingston Road, just east of Brimley – it looks like changes are happening here too.

Brimley Road is also the main access for Bluffers Park at the foot of the Scarborough Bluffs.

below: Dairy Queen at Kingston Road and Harewood is closed for the winter

below: An alley runs behind the south side of Kingston Road

below: Mailbox with a porpoise (or two)

below: On the side of a Wild Wings restaurant.

below: Carusos Fruit Market, Groceries, Hardware & Gift Items

TTC riders at Runnymede

Posted: December 20, 2024 in public art
Tags: Anonymous Somebody, Elicser Elliot, mural, people, public art, subway, TTC Runnymede station

More than three large murals by Elicser Elliott can be seen on some of the interior walls of Runnymede subway station. Together, they form “Anonymous Somebody”

They date from 2019 and are part of the TTC Public Art Program.

There are a couple that I missed. Like the ones shown here, they feature a diverse group of people that represent the people who use this Bloor West stop on a daily basis.

Thankfully they are more cheerful, more positive, than the images at Union Station!

as I walk Toronto

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