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
If you walk east on Bloor from Dundas West, you will encounter a railway bridge.
A section of the walls of this underpass have recently been painted by 40+ artists. The south side is now covered in new murals.
This underpass has been painted previously – back in 2015 both the north and south walls were painted in a Wallnoize project (see post from 2015). Some of the same artists appear on this updated version. This time it was StreetARToronto that sponsored the artworks. Let’s take a look at some of the murals (in no particular order)….
below: Stay young! An old man on a bike that he outgrew years ago! by Adrian Hayles
below:Opola Karim painted this Toronto skyline scene, a view that is well known to anyone who has visited the Toronto islands.
below: Peaceful, loving hands joining together by Phillip Saunders aka Loveishere
below: Close to the west end of the underpass is this colourful section. The collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists, Just J. Art (the hummingbird and the hibiscus flower) and Ambsoul Art
below: A peace dove in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio
below:Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.
below: Facing each other, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin’ Soul
below: Using shades of black, teal and magenta, Drippin’ Soul has created a very metallic looking profile
below: That’s one creepy red eye! Or is it two red eyes? Ahhhh…. the red eye and brass (bronze?) pieces are part of a mask and the design was apparently “inspired by the taotie motifs of the Shang dynasty” (Quote is from MonkYi’s instagram page). The Shang dynasty dates back to between 1600 BC and 1050 BC; it marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. A taotie was a mythological creature that represented greed and gluttony.
below:Ghazaraza‘s ladies are sharing a pot of tea.
below: Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere… Oh, I don’t know just why
She simply caught my eye…. Or you can all it by its title, “Wildlife in Bloom” by Lula Lumaj.
below: A cute little grey cat with green eyes.
below: GO train – definitely On the Move!
below: “The Lookout aka the Fruit Bandits” not letting a fence get in the way! by Jim Bravo
below: Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea.
All of the pictures in this post were taken on Dundas East, just west of Jones Avenue. Along this stretch of Dundas, garages and backyard fences line the street. Most of them have been painted with bright and cheerful images of flowers, birds, animals, and other living things.
below: There is only one person who would paint a mural with these cute but mischievous raccoons, Emily May Rose
below: Sadly, unsigned and unknown. Two snakes slithering through pink flowers and green grass.
below: La Pupila (aka Valentina) has painted rosy red apples with faces, and even a bite taken out of one of them.
The passage between Asquith and Church streets has been renamed Sherlock Holmes Walk and it now features a large mural honoring the fictional detective first brought to life by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
“I am a brain Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix”, section by Bernice Lum
The mural was developed in partnership with the TTC, the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto (StART) program, the Toronto Public Library (TPL) and the Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection. It differs from most street art in that the panels were produced elsewhere. They also have a shiny finish on them so there are many reflections.
The hoardings surround a construction site for the TTC’s Bloor-Yonge Capacity Improvements Project. The site will be home to a future fan building to enhance air circulation at the newly renovated station.
below: The Palace of Westminster (England’s parliament buildings) as Sherlock’s “Mind Palace”, an image created by EGR. Other London scenes can be found in the background.
below: A younger Sherlock Holmes playing with toy soldiers and toy dinosaurs, Jeff Blackburn
A group of StART artists provided artwork for the mural – I haven’t been able to match all the artists to the sections (and I missed a panel or two?) As well as the artists named above, the following were also involved in this project: Artists: Adrian Hayles, Annwin Arts, Fatspatrol, Brian Jiang, Jasmin Pannu, Keitha Keeshig Tobias, Megan Oldhues, Melika Saeeda, Poser.
below: An image that makes me think of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” novel.
With the strength of our diversity;
With the wisdom of our ancestors.
We look ahead to our prosperity
We create our own identity
Based on love and empathy
We firmly believe in equality
Embracing our unity; unleashing our creativity
Striving for peace and respect
These simple paintings are arranged along a fence at Kingston and Galloway Roads in the West Hill neighbourhood in Scarborough. At one end, on Galloway Road, only the back of the person is seen from the sidewalk. In the middle, the people are starting to turn so that by the other end of the line they face the street.
This was a StreetARToronto project with the help of the Boys and Girls Club of East Scarborough as well as Behind the Line
There are two large Elicser murals on Queen West just west of Ossington. The first is ‘Communication’ on the side of 1052 Queen West.
The text part of the mural was the work of street artist Sight.
Just around the corner, at Brookfield and Queen West is a mural that Elicser has just finished. It is a departure from his usual style – it is still a picture of a person but it is much more abstract.
This second mural is part of StreetARToronto’s New Dawn laneway project (see previous post for another mural in this project).
As an aside: The last time that google filmed this section of Queen West, the ‘Communication’ mural had been started but was not yet finished.
below: An older man sits on a bench watching the pigeons, a painting by Steam.
below: Archer in the city with a loaded paint brush, part of a mural by Keitha Keeshig Tobias
below: Oh oh! Little pink guy seems to have broken through…. painting by Skero
This project had the support of the city’s StreetARToronto program, the Chinatown BIA, as well as local businesses including El Mocambo and Gwartzman’s Art Supplies. It was led by Amos Danniels (a.k.a. ‘SIGHT’) as its co-curator and project manager along with Project Coordinator Nishina Loft.
These colourful birds were painted by Jieun June Kim and Erica James with the support of StreetARToronto and the city.
below: The older two storey storefronts on the west side of Yonge street reflected in the new windows of the updated Yonge Sheppard Centre on the east side.
below: Continuing northwards, there is this large hole in the ground on Yonge at Spring Garden.
below: And here we find another new mural (painted earlier in September I think) also painted by two artists.
below: On the righthand side, the artist was @rowellsoller
below: “Make me smile” with a ‘free flowing water queen’ with pink curls by @rowdyradrat aka Ian Gabriel is the other half of the mural.
Recently, Art Eggleton Lane, south off Harbord Street, was the site of the third annual butterfly laneway painting project organized by Nick Sweetman with help from StreetARToronto and the David Suzuki Foundation.
below: Bird on a branch with butterflies in the background by luvsumone, muisca, and Javid Jah. This mural is on the same garage as theone with the three butterflies on the left in the photo above.
below: Black line butterflies on a wood fence by Oriah Scott
below: This mural gives the impression that the butterfly is as vast as the universe, flying with the stars.
below: She becomes a butterfly in orange and pink, by Anya Mielniczek
below: In the foreground, a rainbow wasp moth by @drippin_soul aka Kalkidan Assefa
below: Butterflies in bubbles in a futuristic world by Sadar aka blazeworks
