outdoor | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘outdoor’

paused, paintings

Posted: May 1, 2020 in galleries, locations
Tags: art, collage, Craven Road, exhibit, fence, flag, objects, outdoor, paintings

The Great Pause, March 2020 (and then April…. and now into May)

below: Courage, joy, spirit, celebrate, community, equality, and one that has flipped over.

below: All you need is love.

below: What to do when spring seems so far away….

making peace, on display

Posted: May 31, 2017 in events, locations, public art
Tags: art, Canary district, corktown commons, disarmament, display, environment, exhibit, images, International Peace Bureau, IPB, justice, Kamajor, Making Peace, memorial, Nelson Mandela, outdoor, Pankhurst, peace, photos, suffragette, trees, voting rights, women, words

‘Making Peace’ is a traveling exhibit that is being shown in Toronto at the moment. It was produced by the International Peace Bureau (IPB) and was first shown in in 2010 as a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 1910 Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to IPB. It’s purpose is to promote peace as well as educate and inform.

It can be seen until the end of June on Front Street East in the Canary District (by Corktown Commons, east of the Distillery District). In Toronto, the exhibit involves short four-sided pillars that line the sidewalk and each side of every pillar has a photo with a description or a quote from a famous person. There is also a temporary gallery in an indoor space ‘loaned’ to the exhibit by one of the developers in the Canary District.

below: A painting in progress by Ford Medina showing Nelson Mandela in five colours. These colours carry over into the outdoor exhibit and each colour represents the five main elements that IPB considers necessary for peace:
1. disarmament and nonviolence (purple)
2. conflict prevention and resolution (red)
3. economic and social justice (orange)
4. human rights, law and democracy (blue)
5. environment and sustainable development (green)

below: The display extends into Corktown Commons. Here the pillars are green as this is the section for the fifth element named above, the environment.

below: Photo by Ribeiro Antonio. The words that accompany this photo are: ” On 25 September 2015, the 193 countries of the UN agreed to an historic plan of action, entitled ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. This plan contains 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of sustainable development issues. These include ending poverty and hunger, improving health education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.” If you are interested in this, there is more information on the UN website.

below: Blue is for human rights, law, and democracy and here you have an old black and white photograph of Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960), a British campaigner, apparently taken when she was in Australia speaking out on behalf of woman’s rights as part of the Suffragette movement. The Suffragettes (or Women’s Social and Political Union or WSPU) was founded by a small group of women in 1903, including Sylvia, but during WW1 Sylvia was expelled from the WSPU because of her pacifist views and anti-war actions. Her sister Adela shared similar views – she immigrated to Australia where campaigned against the First World War.

below: Two photos. The one on the right, of the woman holding the flower in front of the armed soldiers, was taken at a Peace March against the Vietnam War in Washington DC in 1967. The photo on the left was taken in 2001 and is the back of a Kamajor fighter in Sierra Leone. They played a role in the civil war that occurred in that country between 1991 and 2002.

below: A couple of the red pillars on Front Street with the blue sculpture, “The Water Guardians ” behind them. The images on the closest pillar are of inside the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem as well as UN peacekeepers in Bosnia.

below: Closer to home, this pillar celebrates the work of the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation. Working with the city as well as with community groups, businesses, and individuals, they help to increase Toronto’s tree cover.

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” Gandhi

below: Homeless migrant worker, China

The exhibit continues until mid-September.

pillow fight 2017

Posted: April 3, 2017 in events, people
Tags: boys, crowd, event, fight, fun, girls, hot dog, International pillow fight day, kids, laughter, men, nathan phillips square, outdoor, people, pillow fight, pillows, shark, smiles, women

April 1st was International Pillow Fight day and like previous years, a group gathered at Nathan Phillips Square armed with pillows and ready for a fight. Swinging, ducking and hitting as well as laughing and smiling, ensued.

below: Superman made an appearance

below: A well deserved rest after a fight well fought.

movement in vibrant colour

Posted: August 25, 2016 in public art
Tags: active, athletic, ballet, Bill Lishman, Bridgepoint, colours, dancing, DVP, figures, Gerrard, grace, movement, moving, muses, outdoor, path, people, poses, Richard Vanheuvelan, sculpture, snowboarder, strength

They aren’t easily seen from any street but there are now 20 colourful figures leaping and dancing their way along the west side of Bridgepoint Hospital. You will encounter them if you walk on the path that runs between Gerrard East and Riverdale Park.

below: Perched high above the Don Valley, they run, jump, leap, dance and celebrate movement of the human form. They are sculptures by Canadian artist Bill Lishman (with help from Richard Vanheuvelan).

below: A yellow goggle-wearing snowboarder leaping over the bushes is the first sculpture you come across if you are walking up the path from Riverdale Park.

below: Two of the twenty different figures form ‘The Lambada’ (a dance style originating in Brazil in the 1980’s) by Richard Vanheuvelan.

below: More dance, this time ballet in red, blue and purple. Strength and grace.

below: ‘The Three Muses’ pose overlooking the city.

The sculptures were a generous gift from the Tauba and Solomon Spiro Foundation and were originally designed in memory of businessman and philanthropist, Max Tanenbaum (1909-1983).

Bloordale, north of Bloor

Posted: June 18, 2016 in graffiti and street art
Tags: alley, altered signs, Belarusan, Bruno Smoky, Dastardly Whiplash, doors, faces, fiya, garage, garage door, graffiti, lane, laneway, line drawing, lovebot, marker, meow, mural, old cars, orthodox church, outdoor, patios, Rob Ford, shalak, signs, spray paint, St. Kiryla, stop sign, street art, tiger cub, woof, words

below: “Stop and we’ll build” in Bloordale Village, an area along Bloor St. West between Dufferin St. and Lansdowne Ave.

Last Saturday was Bloordale’s third annual community garage sale and laneway crawl. Many front yards were full of items for sale. A couple of families were selling homemade food and there was at least one lemonade stand.

I walked the area fairly early in the morning so many of the activities were just getting set up. There were things to do and games to play in the alleys and in Susan Tibaldi park. I have blogged previously about this area so last Saturday I only took pictures of things that were new. There weren’t very many changes in the alleys.

below: We are Starlight, we are golden…. **

below: … and it seems that we were all born in outer space. Lovebot and some friends.

Along the side of a building on Jenet Ave I found a large mural of three faces painted by Shalak, Fiya and Bruno Smoky. It faces a parking lot and there were cars in the way. I took some photos anyhow; I think you should be able to see the faces reasonably well.

below: Two women, the one on the left was painted by Shalak while the one on the right is by Fiya.

below: The mustached man and his fish was painted by Bruno Smoky.

below: Remnants of old Rob Ford graffiti still remain around the city including this doorway.

below: This building on Brock Street on has been empty for years.

below: The front of 668 Brock Ave with its Salvation Army ghost sign. In 1921 it was home to the Brock Avenue People’s Mission while next door at 666 Brock Ave., the Number 16 Corps of the Salvation Army was stationed. Its history since then is still a mystery to me.

below: At the not so picturesque corner of Lansdowne and Paton Rd., I found a metal fence. A sign on it says that it is the ‘Lansdowne Fence Temporary Artwork’ by artists Scott Eunson and Marianne Lovink, commissioned by the TTC in 2010. But why is the TTC involved with this vacant lot?

below: And as you can see, it’s a large lot. As it turns out, this was the site of the TTC Lansdowne Carhouse up until 1996. Although the carhouse was classified as a heritage building, it was demolished in 2003. The land has been vacant ever since.

below: Lansdowne carhouse, 1996, photo credit: Robert Lubinksi, TTC collection, found online.

below: A new mural has been painted on the side of the South Indian Dosa Mahal restaurant at the corner of Emerson and Bloor. It is the creation of SPUD and his team with the support of StreetARToronto and the Bloordale BIA. It’s probably the biggest tiger cub in Toronto!

below: Dasdardly Whiplash in his latest role as a graffiti artist near Lansdowne subway station.

below: Small places of worship are scattered all over the city. Many are in buildings once used for other purposes, including (by the looks of it) this one, the Belarusan Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Parish of St. Kiryla of Turau. Trivia #1 of the day: autocephalous is “self-headed” and in this context refers to a church whose bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. Trivia #2: St. Kiryla (c.1130 – 1182) was an eloquent and poetic preacher in Turau which is south of Minsk and east of Warsaw. And on that note I will move on before I end up writing a treatise on Eastern Orthodox religions.

below: Not your average patio!

And last, let’s finish with a splash of bright summer sunshine!

** yes, I know I’ve misquoted

Portugal Day Parade

Posted: June 13, 2016 in events, people
Tags: bagpipes, band, banners, Camoes, community, dancers, dancing, Dundas West, families, float, floats, fun, kids, Little Portugal, men, music, outdoor, parade, people, police, Portugal, Portuguese, sidewalks, street, summer, sunshine, women

Yesterday the Portuguese community in Toronto held their 29th annual Portugal Day parade. It was a lively, happy occasion. Hundreds of people lined Dundas Street West between Lansdowne and Trinity Bellwoods Park to watch the parade. They showed their Portuguese colours with flags, banners, hats, soccer shirts, and lots of red clothes! Young soccer players demonstrated their skills. People of all ages wore traditional dress from different parts of Portugal as they walked and danced along the parade route. There was music too – bagpipes, marching bands, and music to dance to.

anatomy lesson, and more

Posted: May 31, 2016 in graffiti and street art
Tags: anatomy, arteries, bags, birdo, blond, blood, blue jay, eyeball, faces, female, furniture, garage, garage door, garbage, graffiti, Graffiti Alley, head, neck, outdoor, paste up, pink gem, pink jewel, skull, stikman, street art, tags, teeth, veins, women, words

Today’s blog starts with an anatomy lesson as illustrated by vampz on a wall in Graffiti Alley – the arterial and venous blood flow of the head and neck.

I walked the alleys behind Queen St West today to see if there was anything new. The biggest new pieces were the above head and a new birdo creation, pictured below. A realistic looking blue jay and a floating pink gem.

below: The back part of the blue jay is on the side wall of the garage
which produces an interesting 3D effect.

below: This tribute to the basketball Raptors and their appearance in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals is also a new addition. DeRozan is pictured on the left and my apologies for not knowing the player on the right. Unfortunately, it was too close to garbage day and the bins were overflowing so I couldn’t move them out of the way. Next time.

below: And unfortunately, garbage was an issue today.

below: The face isn’t new to the alley, but the words are.
Written by a woman with priorities!

Pretty female working retail falls in love with guys who need bail
the sweet smell of lust or love
you mean well, but money can get her a new car and clean nails.
The Lady”

below: Love Department featuring Phoebe.
You can find more of her on instagram @phoebenewyork

below: Even a simple smile will do most of the time.

below: Cloud Monet and the woman in white, or Who you lookin’ at Mr. Fish?

below: A couple of stikmans. No anatomical realism here!

below: A bit of mystery. I’m not sure if it’s a stikman or if it’s a newcomer to the alley

below: Pull up a seat and rest a bit, we’re almost done.

below: The final words on today’s walk. Someone’s not happy!

spring has sprung

Posted: May 12, 2016 in general Toronto, nature, waterfront
Tags: blossoms, CN Tower, fake flowers, garden, leaves, muskoka chairs, outdoor, outdoors, plastic flowers, red chairs, spring, trees, urban, waterfront, wave deck, weather

There is time between winter and spring that is a dreary time of greyness and dullness. It is a time when the the snow is gone but nature hasn’t come out of hibernation. It is also a time best forgotten.

Luckily we don’t have to wait long.

… just a little longer ….

or if you can’t wait, there’s always plastic!

From the time the first spring flowers start to show

until the time they are in full bloom is usually only a matter of days.

Trees too soon show their colours. The yellows of the willow trees usually appear first.

Almost daily the trees are greener…

… or full of flowers.

And for another year we forget the last grey days of winter

Chinatown Festival

Posted: August 25, 2015 in events
Tags: asian, Chinatown, Chinese, crowds, dance, downtown, dragon, entertainment, festival, food, music, outdoor, people, Spadina Ave., squid, Toronto, twisted potato

A summer in Toronto is a summer of small festivals all over the city. This past weekend, a part of Spadina was closed to traffic to make way for the Chinatown Festival.