Posts Tagged ‘Queens Quay West’

a touch of spring

Posted: March 12, 2022 in graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, public art, reflections
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It seems like it’s been a long winter with more extended periods of colder temperatures as well as never ending snow.  Last weekend was the first sign that maybe spring would arrive this year …. before the snow came back!  Here are a few things that I saw on my walk last Sunday while out enjoying some warm sunshine.

below: A sign of the times; a sign for the coming spring.

wood letters on wood fence that say Outside We Will Live Again

CN Tower with Gardiner Expressway in front, signs for exit for Bay, York, and Yonge streets,

below:  There is still a large parking lot on the corner of Rees and Queens Quay.  It may be the last piece of undeveloped property along this part of the waterfront.

parking booth at parking lot on northwest corner of Rees and Queens Quay, tall condos and aprtments in the background, also the Gardiner Expressway

below: Clearing away the piles of snow.

a front end loader removes snow from the waterfront, with the Empire Sandy, boat, parked right beside

below: The skating rink beside the Power Plant is melting quickly.  The designs painted on the concrete below provide a bright contrast to the towers of glass and steel nearby.

ice melting on skating rink by power plant, pink and blue designs painted on the concrete below, highrises in the background, looking northeast from walkway by waterfront

below: Same spot as above but this time looking northwest.

melting ice on the skating rink, looking northwest

below: On the south wall of The Power Plant, a large image of the artist, Sasha Huber, on top of a Swiss mountain.

large picture on the outside, south, wall of the The Power Plant. A picture of the artist, Sasha Huber, planting a sign and plaque for Rentyhorn, renaming a Swiss mountain.

“Rentyhorn” (2008) is part of a campaign to rename Agassizhorn, a Swiss mountain peak. Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) was a Swiss glaciologist who became convinced that Blacks were an inferior species and that he could prove it. Renty was an enslaved woman who was one of a group forcibly photographed by Agassiz in his attempt to prove his theory. There is more of this story, and more of Huber’s work, on display in the gallery.

below: Reflections and distortions in the windows of The Power Plant.

reflections of Canada Square in the glass of the north wall of the Power PLant

below: Queens Quay

cyclists ride by on Queens Quay, past a box on the sidewalk painted in an abstract design

below: “Compartment Earth” in the lobby of RBC WaterPark Place building on Queens Quay.   It is 16,000 pounds of stainless steel; a sculpture by American artist Roxy Paine.

large metal spherical shaped sculpture in the glass surrounded lobby of rbc waterpark building on Queens Quay

below: Work continues on the park, Love Park, that replaces the old York Street exit ramp from the Gardiner Expressway.

waiting to cross Queens Quay at York, by black hoardings around redevelopment of Love Park,

large letters, L O V E spell love on black haordings, letters are decorated in abstract patterns in pink, yellow, and blue

below: Esmaa Mohamoud‘s large image titled: ” The Brotherhood FUBU (For Us, By Us)” covers 37 x 144 feet (or 11 x 44 metres).

a very large photo of two men high on a wall overlooking the street, Bay street, a group of three people with luggage is walking by

below: Looking up to the blue sky.

reflections and angles on large tall gkass buildings, lots of sky and cloud reflections

below: Part art, part health, this is “Visoleil” in the lobby of the new CIBC Square.  A glowing circle of light to lift the spirits during the grey of a Toronto winter.   I went on a Sunday and the doors were locked so I couldn’t get closer.  Unfortunately, it’s probably gone by now as it was scheduled to be removed on 11th March.

large round white light, lit, inside the entrance of an office building, behind glass, art exhibit, Glowing Orb

below: Also at CIBC Square, “Light Stolen from the Sun” by Steve Driscoll.   This new CIBC building on (by the new GO Station and across from Union Station) has been under construction for a few years now.  It isn’t quite finished.

behind construction fence, coloured glass ready to install inside a new office building

below: Looking through the front window you can catch a glimpse of this magnificent piece of backlit glass.  Apparently there are twelve.  This is something that I am definitely going to come back to see!

looking in the window of the new CIBC building in downtown Toronto, interior glass windows, very tall, of a scene with red leaves on tree and blue sky,

below: Street closed.  Construction.

Lower Simcoe street closed to traffic because of construction

below: More construction, King and John.

a man walks across intersection of John and King, with construction

below: Development notice on Crocodile Rock… yikes, 68 storeys proposed at Adelaide and Duncan.

blue and white city of toronto development notice on wall of Crocodile Rock

below: Northeast corner of Adelaide and Duncan

northeast corner of intersection of Adelaide and Duncan with Crocodile Rock bar on the corner

below: Hoardings on Lower Simcoe street – “A Stroll Through the City” by Camilla Teodoro

pictures painted on hoardings around building

below: Looking west on Front Street from Bay with Union Station, CN Tower, Royal Bank building, and the Royal York Hotel.

Front Street in front of Union station

below: In Simcoe Park (Front Street), there is an aluminium sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor.  It was installed in 1995.

public art, mountains, amid the trees (real) in Simcoe Park

below: Outside Metro Hall, a banner promoting COVID-19 vaccination in kids.

city of Toronto banner promoting vaccination of kids against covid

below: Snarky graffiti – “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.”

text graffiti on white paper pasteup

below: Signs on traffic construction cones

beside construction equipment, orange and black traffic cone with yellow poster that says At what cost?

on the sidewalk by a construction sign,orange and black traffic cone with yellow poster that says You're Not Alone

by painted curb between road and bike lane, orange and black traffic cone with yellow poster that asks Two Weeks?

below: Protest posters and graffiti. Anti condo development & corrupt landlords. Mercury contamination of water.

graffiti and posters on the side of a red metal newspaper box on the sidewalk. I'm feeling blue sticker, and an anti development poster saying greed is bad

posters and graffiti on a metal box

pasteup graffiti on metal box on sidewalk, eyes, text,

after a hot summer day

Posted: July 3, 2021 in people, waterfront
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a cooler evening on the waterfront

A couple sit with their backs to the camera on the edge of Lake Ontario while a male cyclist walks his bike past. Two red Muskoka chairs in the picture as well as boats on the water

On Toronto waterfront, harbour, three people standing on the dock beside a sailboat, a man in yellow shorts and white hat, and two women. A man is standing in the boat next to it.

below: Simcoe Wave Deck

people sitting and walking on the Simcoe Wave Deck, Toronto waterfront, with condos behind

kids playing on the Simcoe Wave Deck, a young girl is sliding down it

People by the side of Lake Ontario, two on bicycles, some sitting on the side of the walkway, a woman leaning against a post, and a man taking selfies. There is also a seagull. Port Lands is in the distance.

below: Joseph Landau, accordion player

A male accordion player, Joseph Landau, stands beside the waterfront. Curly black hair.

an older man with a big fluffy grey beard sits on a bench with Tim Hortons cup beside him. He's wearing orange shorts and a pink top. Looking at his phone

A couple sits at a table on an upper level balcony patio, behind glass barrier. With condo buildings behind

below: Queens Quay traffic – take care! Cyclists (and pedestrians) don’t always see or obey their traffic signals!

TTC street car on Queens Quay, cyclists on the bike path, pedestrians trying to cross

Two men walk past another man dressed in blue who dances for tips. He's standing still because no one has given him any money

people sitting on the end of a dock by Lake Ontario

hot dog and sausage street vendors at work

Young man in red shorts performing stunts on his skateboard

three men walk past boats docked at the waterfront, one is topless

A couple sit on the sand on waterfront, under yellow umbrella, a man walks past behind them, also two men sitting on the edge of the lake,.

People sitting and lying on benches on waterfront, in front of the tour boats Northern Spirit and Obsession. One woman is doing yoga pose.

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cold and windy, downtown in January

Posted: January 30, 2021 in construction, locations, public art
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A cold and frosty afternoon walk westward along a windy Queens Quay to Harbourfront with a detour to Union Station to warm up.  It was below zero, but only single digits so it can’t be that bad, right?

below: New construction, Lower Jarvis at Queens Quay East, beside Sugar Beach

new building being built at Lower Jarvis and Queens Quay, beside Sugar Beach

below: Redpath Sugar on Queens Quay East

redpath sugar processing plant on Queens Quay in Toronto

below: “Whaling Wall”, 1997, on the side of Redpath Sugar, one in a series of 100 murals painted by Robert Wyland that feature whales and other seal life.

whale mural on the side of Redpath sugar warehouse

below: Looking north up Yonge Street from Queens Quay

looking north up Yonge street from Queens Quay, tall buildings, not much traffic, a TTC bus,

below: Ice just beginning to form on the water.  Although it’s almost February, Lake Ontario remains unfrozen – at least up until last Thursday when this picture was taken.  That was also the coldest day of the winter that we’ve had so far.  A lot more of the harbour, and lake, should be frozen now!

ice starting to form in harbour where the Toronto island ferry is docked

below: Looking north up Bay Street from Queens Quay

below: Lakeshore & Gardiner at Bay Street.

below: There’s a new walkway over Bay Street that joins Union Station and the GO bus terminal.

below: Looking south from the new walkway.  On the right is the old postal sorting station, then Air Canada Centre, and now totally rebranded as the Scotiabank Arena.

below: It also offers new views into windows!

looking into window of MLSE entertainment, from above,

below: Towards the new GO Terminal.  When I wandered through it was just me and two security guards.

below: The first of these that I have seen, inside the new GO bus terminal.

vending machine selling disposable masks for two dollars each

below: The old GO Terminal

below: It was very quiet in front of Union Station, especially subdued for late on a weekday afternoon.

below: Remembering the 2019 Raptors team.

street sign for Brmener Bl that has been turned into Raptors way to celebrate their 2019 NBA championship. The sin is red and white inside of the usual blue and white

below: York Street at Bremner, with the base of the CN Tower peaking through.

below: Looking into the lobby of a new building at 10 York Street, designed by Brad Golden & Co.

looking into the lobby of a condo building, through a large glass wall, some art inside including a large wall panel that looks like crinkled shiney gold paper, some reflections,

below: “Iceberg” in Canada Square, with the CN Tower in the background. This sculpture, that you can walk through, also has sound and lights.  The latter would probably be better seen a little later in the day!

metal sculpture called Iceberg in Canada Square with the CN Tower in the background

below: Dewit L. Petros, “Untitled (Overlapping and intertwined territories that fall from view III)”, on the south wall of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery.  This was part of the 2020 Contact Photography Festival.

large photograph by Dewit Petros on the south wall exterior of the power plant contemporary art gallery

below: “Sonic Runway” a light-art installation on the waterfront created by Warren Trezevant and Rob Jensen.

rings with a pinkish colour surround a walkway, a woman is walking through them, on the waterfront, a boat is docked beside the walkway

And then home to warm up again!

rainy day walk by the waterfront

Posted: June 30, 2019 in nature, reflections, waterfront
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This has been a wet spring along the waterfront.  Lake Ontario has been at its highest level in years.   Earlier, I had posted some photos that I took of Woodbine, Kew and Balmy beaches and the high water levels there (blog post, “water logged”).  The other day I visited the beaches and walkways at the other end of the city’s waterfront, from H2O beach to Ontario Place.

below: Flooding at H2O Beach

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas, lifesaving ring and ladder are no longer at the shore but quite a ways out in the lake

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas, dark skies in the distance as a storm approaches

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas

below: All that water makes for some colourful reflections!

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas, many colourful reflections in the flood waters

below: Looking west towards the old Canada Malting Company silos as the dark clouds signal an approaching storm.

Canada Malting Company old concrete silos on Toronto Waterfront, la large boat docked near the foreground, dark skies over Lake Ontario as a storm approaches

below: The Empire Sandy docked along with the tugboat, M.S. Kane

the Empire Sandy, a three mast sailing ship, docked along side a small tugboat, the M. S. Kane. on a grey wet day

below: Toronto’s fire rescue boat, the William Lyon Mackenzie, docked beside Fire Station 334.   It was built in 1964 and is named for Toronto’s first mayor.

The WIlliam Lyon McKenzie, a bright red fire boat is docked at Toronto waterfront, city skyline behind the boat with tall condos, also dark storm clouds

below: Queens Quay at Spadina, looking west

looking west on Queens Quay at Spadina, streetcar tracks, street, trafiic, pedestrian on sidewalk, TTC street car approaching, Starbucks on the corner, low rise buildings in the background

below: A streetcar starts to head north on Spadina

a new TTC streetcar starts to head north on Spadina, just south of the Gardiner and large condos

below: Playing basketball in the rain.

four boys playing basketball on a green and brown court, in the rain,

below: An old blue canoe at Little Norway park.  A training camp for the Norway’s Air Force was located here (SW corner of  Queens Quay and Bathurst) during WW2.  The large rock that you can see in the photo is a 3000 pound boulder brought from Norway in 1976 to be part of a permanent monument to the people who trained and served here.   In 1986 the space became Little Norway Park.

an old blue canoe is used as a planter in a park

below: Looking back towards downtown and the CN Tower from the western end of Queens Quay West.

looking east along Queens Quay West from the very western end of the ctreet towards the CN Tower and downtown. Lowrise residential units on either side of the street, bike lane, small trees, wet, raining

reflections of sailboats and their masts in Lake Ontario, boats are parked at a yacht club

a lone red Muskoka chair sits on an angle in a small grassy patch between a fence and a path, looks out over a yacht club

below: Lots of big puddles at Coronation Park

flooded pathway, large puddles, along shoreline at Coronation Park, boats in the background

flooded driveway and entrance to underground parking,

below: Yellow flowerpot islands

two large light green flower pots sit on concrete pedestals, in the water, orange cones in the water, shoreline is flooded, some sailboats docked in the background

below: Someone has tied a string of small Canadian flags to the railing at Coronation Park.  Happy Canada Day weekend!

sailboats moored out in Lake Ontario, in the foreground is a metal railing with a string of Canadian flags tied to it

four white sailboats moored in the water, Lake Ontario, with their main sails wrapped up and put away, calm water but grey skies

a large bird sits on a yellow sign out in the waters of Lake Ontario, an orange (or red) light sits on a concrete pedestal beside it

below: Toronto skyline from Trillium Park, from the green trees of Coronation Park on the left and past the CN Tower to Billy Bishop airport on the far left.

In the background is the Toronto skyline from Trillium Park, from the green trees of Coronation Park on the left and past the CN Tower and tall city center buildings, to the National Yacht Club and then Billy Bishop airport on the far left. In the foreground is an orange lifesaving ring and the rocks of the shoreline of the park

below: Large granite rock in Trillium Park

large chunk of granite in a park, black patches with streaks of pink and grey

below: Ontario Place, where TSN was playing to no one.

a large screen plays a TSN show, outdoors, Ontario Place, white chairs but no one is there

below: Flooding by the marina at Ontario Place.  In the foreground is what appears to be an electrical box.

flooding at Ontario Place

flooding at Ontario Place, empty building surrounded by water, boats, cinesphere dome

flooding at Ontario place, orange sandbags and a fence that is partially submerged in the water

scaffolding holds lights for a show at Ontario Place, in the distance is the CN Tower.

below: The Canada geese have these Muskoka chairs to themselves.

By Lake Ontario, a group of white Muskoka chairs in long grass with a lot of Canada Geese standing around them, metal barricades behind chairs and trees behind that

below: From the northwest corner of Ontario Place, looking west over Lake Ontario towards Etobicoke and Mississauga

shoreline of Ontario Place, looking west over Lake Ontario to Etobicoke and Mississauga

on the northwest corner of Ontario Place, gate across path because of flooding, a swan in the water, the wind turbine on the CNE grounds in the distance

elevated buildings of Ontario Place over the water

below: There was also flooding on Lakeshore Blvd.

traffic on Lakeshore Blvd plows through the water and creates great splashes of water, road is partially flooded

a white truck with three men in the cab on Lakeshore Blvd plows through the water and creates great splashes of water, road is partially flooded

below: Puddles in an almost empty parking lot, CNE grounds.

CNE parking lot, empty except for one white car, large puddles with reflections, and the city in the background, CN TOwer, tall buildings,

abstract in blues, made by close up of reflections and ripples in the water

Ice Breakers

Posted: January 19, 2017 in events, waterfront
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The finishing touches are being put on five installations for the new Ice Breakers event along Queens Quay West and the waterfront.  Everything will be up and running this weekend and the installations will remain until the event ends on the 26th of February.    Ice Breakers is the result of a collaboration between the Waterfront BIA and Winter Stations (the people that brought the winter warming stations installations to the Beaches)

below: The first installation that I saw was ‘Incognito’ which stands out in Rees Street Parkette on Queens Quay.   It is by Curio Art Consultancy and Jaspal Riyait.

a public art installation in a park, winter time but no snow, no leaves on the trees, muddy brown grass, condo in the background. Artwork is a series of shapes stacked in a pile, all shapes are painted in black and white wide stripes. The stripes are horizontal, vertical and diagonal in the resulting structure, called incognito, by Jaspal Riyait and Curio

below: Set your sails and round you go!  Sailboats that go in circles.  ‘Leeward Fleet’ by RAW design sailing at Canada Square.

with the lake in the background, art installation beside Lake Ontario on Toronto's waterfront, called Leeward Fleet, by RAW consulting, two (of three) round platforms with a small sail in the middle. The boom of the sail is the handle for turning the platforms round and round like a merry go round.

art installation beside Lake Ontario on Toronto's waterfront, called Leeward Fleet, by RAW consulting, two (of three) round platforms with a small sail in the middle. The boom of the sail is the handle for turning the platforms round and round like a merry go round. CN Tower in the background as well as some of the downtown condos.

below: ‘Icebox ‘ is a black box on HTO beach which is where the yellow umbrellas are.  Alan and Alex of Anex Works were putting the finishing touches on it when I walked by.   Polymetis designed it, but Anex Works built it.  In fact, they are the ones responsible for construction of most of these installations.   I didn’t take any photos inside the box in part because it’s not complete… but the inside walls are made from hardened spray foam insulation and that’s all I’m going to tell you.  This one will be more fun if it’s a surprise.   I definitely plan to go back later in the month to check out the finished product.   And yes, it is reminiscent of the black box that was one of the Warming Stations in 2015, Hot Box, because it was the same artist (or group of artists).

black box on a beach with muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas,

reflections of the yellow umbrellas of H T O beach on the black shiny sides of Icebox, an art installation at the beach

below: From across the street it looks like two hands gesturing like “It was this big!”
Or perhaps they are holding that grey building up?

looking across Queens Quay west to the buildings and condos in downtown, the edge of the Skydome (Rogers Center) is just visible, two large hands rise upwards as part of an art installation.

below:  The hands are made of wood.  The palms are covered in a shiny gold coloured material that will reflect the light that shines from the bottom of each hand.   “Tailored Twins” by Ferris + Associates.

two large wooden hands face each other, beside the sidewalk, condos behind, the plams are covered with shiny gold,

below: And last, an installation that probably looks much better in the dark when each diamond shaped module is lit from inside.   This is ‘Winter Diamonds’ and it was designed by Platant, a Danish design and artistic consultancy.  Their website is in Danish but it does have some interesting pictures on it, including an installation similar to this that was in Copenhagen last winter (I think!)

public art installation in a park along Lake Ontario, diamond shapes stacked in a pile, 10 pieces altogether, 5 on the bottom, 4 on the next row and one on top, grey in colour, bare trees and boats covered for the winter are in the background.

#TOicebreakers | #TOwaterfront

Note: Winter Stations returns to Balmy, Kew and Ashbridges Bay beaches on the 20th of February.

reflections of the yellow umbrellas of H T O beach on the black shiny sides of Icebox, an art installation at the beach

in-between at Ontario Square

Posted: November 11, 2015 in public art
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‘In-Between Worlds’ is a series of photographs by Canadian photographer Meryl McMaster.   This series centres around the role of McMaster’s dual heritage in her search for self;  The images represent her being part of, and also being between, two different cultures as she is part Cree and part ‘European’.

Three of the images are on display at Ontario Square by Queens Quay West and Lower Simcoe St.

below: Horse Dance.  The bright red and blue of the shaggy hobby horses against a winter landscape makes for an eye catching picture.  On closer look, you realize that there is a person’s head inside one of those horses’s head.  Heads that have no eyes to see or mouths to speak.

A large photograph of three red hobby horses with long blue mane, taken outside in the winter in the snow, with bare trees in the background. A mix of the real (outdoors) and the unreal (hobby horses instead of real horses). Photo is Mounted on a concrete wall outside.

below: Wingeds Calling.  Around the corner there is another picture of a person in costume, playing the role of a real, yet not real, animal.  A large black bird-like figure walks on the frozen ground, perhaps too big and awkward to fly.

A photograph Mounted on a concrete wall outside of a person draped in a large black cape and wearing a head piece that looks like a large black bird. Photo taken outside in winter so the background is all white and grey like a foggy winter day.,

below: Wind Play Variation.  The third picture baffles me a bit.  Although this is another picture of a person assuming a role,  this time the creature is totally of the artist’s imagination.  A blue hairy thing that is slightly blurry as it walks amongst the pine trees.   Is it coming or going?

Photo of a blue furry creature taken in winter with snow covered evergreens in the background. Mounted on a concrete wall outside.