Posts Tagged ‘University College’

Let’s start with A

Posted: August 11, 2023 in construction, locations, old buildings
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In this case A is a very fancy letter and A is for Alexandra – as in Queen Alexandra.  This is a post on one side of the Queen Alexandra Gateway at the north end (at Bloor Street) of Philosophers Walk.  A little bit of history –  This gate was built by the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire to commemorate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall in 1901.  Originally it stood slightly to the east, at the north end of Queens Park Drive (at Bloor).   The names and relationships of the British monarchy can get confusing!  The Duke of Cornwall was also Prince George (who later became King George V).  Queen Alexandra was his mother – the wife of King Edward VII

on a stone gate pillar, two metal pieces, a crown and the letter A, gatepost is for Queen Alexandra Gateway

Or maybe A is for Architecture. 

below: There is plenty of that as you walk along Philosophers Walk including this juxtaposition of old stone and new glass.  The reddish structure was built in 1897 to house the Toronto Conservatory of Music.  The glass addition to the now Royal Conservatory of Music opened in 2009.

buildings, an old red brick one and a newer glass building

below:  The aged copper at the top of Trinity College (built 1920s) is another example of the architectural details to be seen here.

reenish copper top of Trinity College, an old stone building at University of Toronto

… and now A is for Academia as we find ourselves surrounded by the University of Toronto.

below: Front of Trinity College

front steps and entrance to Trinity college, old stone building

below:  Ivy covered walls.

part of an ivy covered building at university of toronto

below: Hart House – financed by Vincent Massey and named after his father, Hart Massey (of Massey Ferguson).  Vincent Massey was the 18th Governor General of Canada (Feb 1852- Dec 1859).

wild flowers growing in a garden beside path in front of Hart House

below: “He came and preached peace. ” Faces and felines above a Knox College window.

architectural details above a window at Knox College, a cat carved in stone, a man's face, and text in a circle that says he came and preached peace

below: Impressive stonework around a University College door.

doorway at University College

below: University College window. 

window with rounded tops, within semi circle stone work

below: Purple prairie clover in front of University College (and no, sadly it doesn’t start with A).

purple prairie clover plants growing in front of the windows of University College

rounded turret shaped structure on the side of a red brick building

below: Not all University buildings are old and built of stone.  This is the McLennan Physical Laboratories building (originally from 1967 but with many updates).

more modern buildings on U of T campus

A is for Art. 

When I walked this route, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto (in University College) was showing a few artists including the graduating projects of the 2023 Master of Visual Studies graduate students Durga Rajah, Nimisha Bhanot, Omolola Ajao, and Sarah Zanchetta.  That exhibited end on the 22nd of July (I am a bit behind in posting).  Here is an example – I leave it to you, A the Audience, to decide if it is A for Art in this case.

below: Title: “@ranaayyub Proud of the Muslim women in India who are sticking their neck out and speaking against the tyranny of the Indian state, (Rana Ayyub)” 2023  by Nimisha Bhanot.  The image is taken from a short video posted on Instagram in April 2022 by Rana Ayyub who is a journalist at the Washington Post (born in Mumbai India). 

painting on a gallery wall of a mail reporter interviewing women in India. In brown tones. with text, image was taken from instagram acount of rana ayyub

 

A is for Anatomy.  But yikes, the anatomy is not where you’d expect it to be!

below: Part of “Consuming Caribbean” series by Thomas Haskell.

ceramic artwork by Thomas Haskell, fruits with human or animal anatomical characteristics

A is for Artefacts although I may be grasping at straws here…. (Art -efacts perchance?)… “Resurgent Artefacts” is the name of another of the installations at the U of T Art Museum.  It consists of words written on the wall as well as spoken plus a visual aspect.  The words begin with: “this morning, a hole appears in your stomach.  you rinse dishes that roll inward. sprinkle flowers which disappear. your heart beat ragged like stems rotting in still water.  it is no small devastation. sprung without antecedent or count in. just a slow sink.  a mossy bog.”… there is more, 8 feet high.  Full text on artist’s instagram page

below: The visual part of Jasmine Gui’s “Resurgent Artefacts”, floor to ceiling designs on Japanese paper.  A single picture probably doesn’t do it justice.

art installation including drawings and paintings on thin paper hung from the ceiling,

 

A is also for Astronomy. 

Or in this case, the Louis B. Stewart Observatory on Hart House Circle.  The original building was the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory.  From Wikipedia: “The original building was constructed in 1840 as part of a worldwide research project … to determine the cause of fluctuations in magnetic declination. Measurements from the Toronto site demonstrated that sunspots were responsible for this effect on Earth’s magnetic field.  When this project concluded in 1853, the observatory was greatly expanded by the Canadian government and served as the country’s primary meteorological station and official timekeeper for over fifty years. The observatory is considered the birthplace of Canadian astronomy.”

old observatory building at university of toronto

kids plastic ride-on toys on kerb beside garden on U of T grounds

A is for Anthropology.  That’s the study of humanity, or what makes humans human.  You could say it’s the study of cultures and societies and how they develop or interact.  Here someone from the Anthropology Department has planted food? I am not sure what is growing here…. 

small hand printed sign in small garden that says anthropology food garden

below:  Also outside the Anthropology building is this cast-bronze sculpture called ‘Cedars’ (1962) by Walter Yarwood.

bronze sculpture called Cedars, outside building, by Yarwood

A is for Anishinaabe

It is also our last stop on this wander through part of the University of Toronto.  Now we are at Spadina, just north of the Daniels Building/Architecture faculty  where this design was painted on the large north window in November 2021 by Que Rock. 

painting on a large window of Daniels school of architecture building

Anyone for B?

autumn lingers on

Posted: November 4, 2015 in history, nature, public art
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The first three days of November have been wonderful – three beautiful warm sunny days, perfect fall weather.

 below: Taking advantage of the warm afternoon in front of Osgoode Hall.

A woman sits on a bench in front of Osgoode Hall, a stone building. Her back is to the camera. A tree with a few yellow leaves frames the picture.

below: On St. George Street in front of Sir Daniel Wilson residence, University College

college on St. George Street, front of the building with black wrought iron fence in front of it along with a few mature trees with some yellow and rust coloured leaves still on them. The clock tower is visible through the tree branches. There are people on the sidewalk in front of the building.

below: Looking across Kings College Circle towards University College

One small tree in the middle of the grass at Kings College circle in front of University College

below: Maple leaves still on the tree.

maple leaves in autumn colours, rust and orange leaves in the foreground, yellow leaves in the background.

below: Mary Pickford looks over University Avenue.

a bust of Mary Pickford, she is resting her head in one of her hands. In the background is a building along with some bushes and a tree with yellow and orange leaves.

There is an historical plaque beside this statue and it reads: “Born in 1893 in a house which stood near this site, Gladys Marie Smith appeared on stage in Toronto at the age of five. Her theatrical career took her to Broadway in 1907 where she adopted the name Mary Pickford. The actress’s earliest film, “Her First Biscuits”, was released by the Biograph Company in 1909 and she soon established herself as the international cinema’s first great star. Her golden curls and children’s roles endeared her to millions as “America’s Sweetheart”. She was instrumental in founding and directing a major film production company and starred in over fifty feature length films including “Hearts Adrift”, “Pollyanna” and “Coquette”. For the last named film, she received the 1929 Academy Award as the year’s best actress. “

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below: Two women outside Emmanuel College, Queens Park Circle

A blueish bronze statue of two overweight women standing facing each other beside a stone building on the University of Toronto campus. It is autumn and there are leaves on the ground. A group of girls is walking in the background.

below: Northrop Frye sits on a bench on the campus of Victoria College (U of T).

A statue of a man, Northrop Frye, sits on a bench with his legs crossed and an open book on his lap. Another book sits beside him on the bench.

This life sized statue was created by Darren Byers and Fred Harrison and was unveiled in October 2012.

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small purple aster flowers in a garden that is close to being covered with autumn leaves that have fallen off the nearby trees