Faces in the alley, Graffiti Alley
As March turns into April and winter sort of turns into spring.
below: Looks like someone has already started his spring cleaning.
below: He says, “See you in hell”.
She thinks, “I’m already there. You should try living beside this smelly thing.”
below: Jarus has painted a young man
below: It seems that even Lovebot needs to eat… Not sure about the purple hamburger bun though!
Today’s blog post comes from slightly farther afield than I usually venture. I went northwest to the Jane and Finch area. As I drove north on Jane street, I spotted some eye-catching paintings on the walls of the Driftwood Community and Recreation Centre.
below: ‘Unique’, a vibrant heart painted by Girls Club
below: ‘Rooted’ trees by Lil Bruxas and part of ‘United Freedom’ on the back wall
below: ‘United Freedom’ by Essencia
below: A blackburn traffic signal box sits on that corner. Straight from the jungle.
A little father south there are a couple of high rise apartment buildings on the northeast corner of Jane and Finch. Each has a mural painted around one of the entrances to the building.
below: ‘Be Inspired, Love Yourself, Educate Others’ by the BeLovEd movement,
painted by Shalak Attack and Fiya Bruxas, 2011.
***
below: ‘Strong Women, Strong Community’ also by the BeLovEd Movement surrounds a doorway. Although there is a sidewalk that leads directly to the corner of Jane and Finch, no one was using this entrance. I was alone when I walked around this building from the parking lot by the main door.
If you are driving or walking west on Sheppard Avenue, just past Midland Avenue, you will notice a new mural on one corner of a railway underpass. This mural was recently painted by street artist Elicser.
Nathan Phillips Square, 14 Nov 2015
A quiet gathering in support of Paris
The event started with a few speeches. French Consul General Mr. Marc Trouyet spoke first, followed by Carolyn Bennett, Liberal MP and then Toronto mayor John Tory.
The official part of the event ended with two minutes of silence.
#parisisaboutlife
Inside Out, a global art project
with more than 250,000 portraits in 124 countries
This project came Toronto as an extended Nuit Blanche installation.
Starting a few days before Nuit Blanche the Inside Out mobile Photobooth was parked at Nathan Phillips Square. Anyone who was interested could have their picture taken – a digital copy was emailed to each participant and a large black and white copy was printed within minutes. The photos were collected and then used to make one large image, a series of concentric circles in the center of the square.
below: Getting ready for Nuit Blanche at Nathan Phillips Square
below: Nathan Phillips Square at Nuit Blanche
below: The side of the ramp to the upper level was also covered with photos.
below: … as was the south side of the 3D Toronto sign.
below: The Inside Out Project remained after Nuit Blanche.
below: There were a number of other sites around the city that participated in this project including a wall at Mel Lastman Square in North York.
below: There was also a wall on the southwest side of Coxwell subway station that was covered.
#IOPToronto | #snb2015 | #snbTO | #share3DTO
Lots more info about Inside Out can be found here.
Fairbank station is not really a station, at least not any more; it’s the access point to the York Beltline trail at Fairbank Street. The York Beltline trail is the western portion of the beltline trail. It is a few blocks north of Eglinton Avenue and it runs from Times Road (west of Marlee Ave) westward to the railway tracks that run parallel to Caledonia Road. Up until the 1990s this was a spur rail line used to service industries in the area. There are still some small industrial buildings close to the Beltline, including some at Fairbank Street which is where I found these:
below: Three anser faces on the far wall and a whoisrandom James Dean up close with sunglasses.
below: Green fur and sharp teeth, a creature by blackburn
below: by braes, or braesoner
below: by mska (left side) and paula prezende (right side)
below: by deadboy (note raccoon on mud flap)
below: by poser and ABM Crew
below: by Nick Sweetman
below: By brunosmoky
Jesus in the City parade
They walked north from Queens Park to Bloor, south on Yonge, and then back across College to Queens Park and they walked with exuberance and joy.
below: The man who played Jesus was very good
The cold hard pavement couldn’t have been easy on his body.
#jitc2015
Toronto Labour Day Parade
Monday 7th September
from Queen & University to the CNE
On the last Sunday of the month from May through October, the streets of the Kensingon Market area are closed to vehicular traffic from noon to 7 p.m. This year, the first two Pedestrian Sundays were cold and wet. For July and August the last Sundays of both months were hot and sunny. The following photos were taken on those two days. Entertainment… music… art… people watching…. restaurants… shops – the colours of Kensington.
We take selfies, lots of selfies.
I watched a family struggle to take a selfie of the four of them that they were all happy with. I offered to take their picture for them. Simultaneously, the husband said “no thanks” and the wife handed me the phone and said “We’d love that”. The husband rolled his eyes a bit and remarked on how useless selfies were but how we seemed to need to take them. This post is dedicated to him.
What do we do with all these selfies?
as I walk Toronto 