Posts Tagged ‘words’

Graffiti Alley – first visit of 2026

Posted: January 13, 2026 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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circular, concentric, calligraphy, stylized, street art painting with a profile of a person with eyes closed

This blog post is a quick look some of the “art” that can be seen in Graffiti Alley at the moment. There is lot on display even though I only walked between Spadina and Portland so this post focuses on the murals and larger paintings that I saw. The smaller stickers and paste ups will be in a subsequent post (sooner rather than later I hope!).

below: Blue birds and big ugly black dogs.

two murals, street art painting, graffiti alley, blue bird with open wins, but feet on pine branch, in background is a squat heavy set black and white dog mural

below: A portrait of Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine’s blue and yellow colours.

portrait of zelensky, ukrainian leader president, in blue and yellow, street art mural

below: Daisy, in rabbit ears

word daisy written on arm of girl in street art painting, graffiti alley, she has black rabbit ears

below: On one of the corners, there is a long grey mural with bits of red….

below: “A lone samurai known as Ghost stands on watch”.   A story and a mural by Dewucme

below: Portraits painted on skateboards – there has been a collection of such portraits hanging here for at least a year.  I am not sure if these three are newer, or if I just forgot them last time.  (Link to blog post of skateboards from 2025).  I have updated the 2025 post to include a few photos that I took last week of other skateboard portraits that I didn’t see a year ago.

graffiti alley, portraits on broken skateboard,

below:  Portrait by Bunso

black and white portrait, street art mural, graffiti alley, man in white t shirt and black cap, smiling,

below:  Other part of the above mural, but painted by a different artist (I think)

black and white portrait of a man

below: In memory of Andre Campbell

blue trash bins and black garbage bags piled in front of street art mural, black and white portrait of a man with short dark hair and glasses, with text that says in memory of Andre Campbell

below:  Behind the Queen Street stores

parking areas and back yards of stores on Queen street, graffiti alley view, three storeys, with balconies across the back street art and graffiti on fences

below: Painting on hoardings as downtown redevelopment (and subway construction) slowly encroaches on the Queen and Spadina neighbourhood.

tiger and dragon street art mural on hoardings in an alley in Toronto

below: “Find peace in your chaos” Plus, it seems to be wearing shirt and tie but it’s also drooling and looking just a little unhinged!

words on sidewalk that say find peace in your chaos, below a painting of a pink monster head with white eyes and big white teeth

squished face, monstrous, big eyes with orange pupils, big white teeth with gums bleeding above one tooth

monster faces, graffiti alley, street art, with snowman underneath

below: Monstrous television screen head with bloody gums and matching tie.

monster faces, graffiti alley, street art, big teeth, with a head shaped like a television screen

tree in front, looking across alley to side of building, completely covered in street art painting, graffiti alley

street art painting, graffiti alley, purple face, blue hands with thumbs up

street art painting, graffiti alley

below: “Who you gonna call?”  Ghostbusters green slimey thing!

street art mural in graffiti alley with green slime creature from Ghostbusters movie in center

below: He’s got one big eye and a scowl on his face.  There’s a burning cigarette in his mouth and the Ace of hearts is tucked into his hat band.  Quite the character.

two garage door murals in graffiti alley

below:  Not all cats are cute?

ugly cat, yellow, with bulging green eyes, street art mural, with two monkey faces, graffiti alley

below:  A woman with her purple hair tied up with little glowing (but ghostly) lanterns in a mural by MonkYi

street art painting by Monk Yi, woman holding a blue fan, with her hair tied up and two little lanterns in her hair, big gold ear rings.

street art painting, graffiti alley, large red and yellow daisy by catchoo, wad of money bills with arms and legs and a face too

street art painting, graffiti alley, on a door, woman with black hair, red lips, and red clothing that looks a lit like flames, red hot

street art painting, graffiti alley, pink tiger, with pink hearts

below: Climbing green onions (scallions?)?  An upside down blue goose?  … And in the middle, yellow siu mai (Chinese open-topped steamed dumplings, a dim sum favorite), all images from the imagination of Mixt Paints aka Kelcy Timmins Chan

purple naked person climbing a bunch of green onions a light blue duck with yellow beak that is diving downwards, street art painting by mixt paintz

below: There’s that snowman again, but on a different wall and surrounded by graffiti

a little white snowman with carrot nose and black buttons, street art painting on a wall covered with graffiti, graffiti alley

below: Ninos Libres, by Kalaruno

street art portrait of a child by Kalaruno, ninos libres

below:  Another Kalaruno painting

lumber and trash in front of a mural in graffiti alley, grey squarish character with human face by Kalaruno

below: At least it’s a step up from tagging…..

red, black, and white mural in graffiti alley

below: A green finger on the trigger.

side by side, two smaller street art painting, graffiti alley, on left is green hand and pink spray paint can while on right is a stupid round face with big oval teeth

behind store, graffiti alley view, pile of empty boxes and trash at bottom of stairs, with doors with street art in orange and blue

graffiti and street art under stairs, green turtle, mushrooms

below: Blue.  And strange looking.  He’s hanging out in the doorway.

street art painting, graffiti alley, in doorway, blue faced weird looking man

below: An introspective dragon

a street art painting of a greenish grey dragon with the word introspection in orange across its body

 

street art in graffiti alley

below: And last, many thanks to the usual Wednesday Gang!

people walking down a wet alley, puddles and reflections on the pavement, of the street art and graffiti on the surrounding walls

 

silliness and more, in their words

Posted: July 15, 2024 in graffiti and street art
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This post is a small collection of “text only” graffiti that I have seen over the past few months.  They come from no particular place in the city.  The authors, except one, are anonymous.  Some are silly, others are poignant.  Not all of them make sense.  No matter what the sentiment, someone took the time and (very little?) effort to make their thoughts known.

below: “Wake up and smell the corruption!”

graffiti, words

below: “I love her tho” along with “We’re probably gonna break up in 3 days”.  Ah, life.
graffiti, words

below: “Was I ever not crazy”, maybe a rhetorical question?

graffiti, words
below: “In your pants” is not a good place to P.

graffiti, words, altered no parking sign with text in your pants, i.e. no peeing in your pants

below: “Sorcery not science runs your world.” I’m curious as to whether the writer is expressing their opinion as in “I think sorcery…” or if they are expressing a complaint as in “You think sorcery…”.

Someone’s reply is: “I am interested in your thoughts on how sorcery interacts with the urban planning process”

Which leads to: “Exhibit A: the streets of Washington D.C”

Totally makes sense, right?  LOL

graffiti, words about sorcery and science on a blue and white development notice sign for masaryk cowan community centre

below: “I’m nosey because I care.” and “If only you could know me but maybe we’re meant 2 be lonely.”  All around a bright red symbol for female, or in Egyptian hieroglyphs, an ankh, the symbol for life.

graffiti, words along with red female symbol, about loneliness and being nosey because I care

below: “If you read this, God bless you my friend”

graffiti, words

below: “How many times I’ve to tell you God loves you, so smile.”

graffiti, words

below: “free the white girls Let them eat cake”

graffiti, words

below: Conversation (monologue?) on a vent goes something like this:
“U know when it feels exactly like drowning?
Yeah I do
I almost did almost drowning
[purple] was interesting and fun
I Don’t Recommend
will not try again”

graffiti, words

below: “Anti-graffiti graffiti crew”

graffiti, words, anti-graffiti graffiti crew

below: “Stay true to yourself and you will attract the greatest things the world has to offer”
graffiti, words painted in an alley, Stay true to yourself and you will attract the greatest things the world has to offer

below: A poem on a pole. Although it mentions Gaza, it would also apply to Kiev, or Kharkiv, or a little farther back in time, Aleppo.

graffiti, words, a poem by Refaat Alareer about dying in Gaza, making a kite

If I Must Die
by Refaat Alareer
If I must die,
you must live,
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth and some strings. 
(make it white with a long tail)
so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking
heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad
who left in a blaze
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh
not even to himself –
sees the kite, my kite you made,
flying up
above
and thinks for a moment
an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale

***

Previous posts with many words:

paper words in the alley (2019)
positive words are never wrong! (2018) and
protests. advertisements. words (2021)

clearing the words

Posted: April 4, 2024 in graffiti and street art, locations
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Back in January I blogged about some graffiti that looked like signs, i.e. they just had text on them (The word about town). A couple of the signs that we had seen were hidden behind shrubs and weeds that started to overgrow the site.  The other day I was passing by the old houses where those signs were posted and noticed that someone had cleaned the site up.

Also, the artist responsible for these signs is Nigel Smith.

blue plywood hoardings with signs on them, large house behind the hoardings with balcony on upper level

graffiti signs by Nigel Smith, with words that say Hiding in plain sight

graffiti signs by Nigel Smith, with words that say true to form

hoardings with signs on them, blue painted plywood, snow on roof of abandoned house,

graffiti signs by Nigel Smith, with words that say money is no object

graffiti signs by Nigel Smith, with words that say can't happen here

view above the hoardings, abandoned house, upper level, old white balcony, brick house, satelite dish, brick chimney,

graffiti signs by Nigel Smith, with words that say blood in the water

The “graffiti” signs look as legitimate as the owner/developer’s signs.

sign that says keep out private property under video surveillance has had orange spray paint sprayed on it

Four houses on Woodbine plus a house on Buller to be demolished to make way for a 4 storey building with 67 units.  Shock – didn’t Doug Ford just say that 4 storeys makes a Tower!  A hated tower that nobody wants?  Does he have any idea how many 4 storey residential units there are in this city?  And how many more are in the process of being developed?

city of toronto notice of development in front of a row of empty houses with blue hoardings in front, sidewalk, a couple of trees,

Right across the street from this site are quite a few buildings (residential) that are 4 storeys high. This is only a small part – they have been there for years now.

row of four storey residential buildings on woodbine avenue

the word about town

Posted: January 4, 2024 in general Toronto
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Many thanks to Sarah Serata who emailed me a few days ago with some photos that she had taken while out walking around the city.  The photos were of some of the graffiti signs that have been appeared in the past couple of years.  She wanted to know if I knew the name of the artist(s) responsible for the signs.  But unfortunately I don’t know the answer.  Instead, I have added a few of my own photos from the past few months and put them all together in this post.  If you can enlighten us as to who has posted these signs, please let us know!

below: Sweet Marie Variety on the corner of Queen and Sumach has been in decline for years.  Now it is also “Too Little” and “Too Late”.

text on posters, graffiti, on boarded up windows

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below:“Wish you were here”, Regent Park buildings before they were demolished.

painted sign posted outside old brick regent Park building before it was demolished

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: “Text”.  Words have always been a part of graffiti.  You see them hastily scrawled in marker or paint, or carefully stenciled on walls, signs, fences, or sidewalks.  Sometimes the text is silly or profane; often it is a protest.  But not usually do you just see the word ‘text’ like this sign that is mounted on the exterior of the old Consumers Gas Office building on Eastern Ave.

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

below: “Gameover” was seen on the same building as the above.

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

below: … and so was “Nice” which is a little fancier, and dare I say, nicer?

green sign with white letters that says nice on brick wall on old industrial building

below: Another “Nice” in blue and white.  All of these signs have obviously been painted/printed elsewhere.  You can’t call them paste-ups because they are more permanent than paper.  This one looks to be nailed to the plywood below it.

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

photo credit: Peter Mickelson

below:  The circle within a square motif seen above also appears here – “Brawn” in the grass beside Eastern Avenue.  There was once a similar sign that said “Think” posted nearby.

sign saying brawn on a wood stake in the grass beside Eastern Ave

below: “Untitled” on  River Street.  Does untitled = unowned (as in holding a title on a piece of property)?

text on posters, graffiti, on boarded up windows

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below:“True to Form” – the next few are of a similar style and are probably by the same artist(?)

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: “Blood in the Water”

text on posters, graffiti, on empty buildings

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: The downside of hanging your signs on abandoned buildings is that the weeds and shrubs grow freely there and your message gets lost.

printed sign obscured by many green leaves

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: Money is no …?  I like that fact that a sign about money is printed in gold on a green background.

printed sign, gold letters on green that say money is no, but then last word is hidden behind green leaves

photo credit: Sarah Serata

below: Previously posted – located on the same row of boarded up houses on Broadview where Moises and Nick Sweetman painted a large mural with a raccoon, pigeon, and others (see Changes at Broadview and Eastern)

front door steps of empty house that has been boarded up, with sign on it that says so far so good

below: Around the time that Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, this sign appeared on the old foundry building near the Distillery District.  True, it’s a symbol not a word but the word “Ukraine” was also posted on the same building (and in the same blue and yellow).  I have a photo of it somewhere!

below: The one thing that all of the above signs have in common is that they are in the east end.   So far, I have only found one exception and that is this sign that was hung by the north side of the railway tracks on Front Street (near Bathurst).

Mounted on the fence separating the railway tracks from Front Street, is a long vertical brown sign with the words if you don't want to. GO train passing behind, condo development in the background

below: A final note – as I was putting together this post, I remembered this wall. A few years ago (2014?) if you were on Queen St. East near Church street you could see this wall on the north side beyond a parking lot (now a condo).

the word think written large in block capital letters, white on red, on a brick building in downtown Toronto, no longer there,

If you are interested in words written on walls, try “Positive words are never wrong!

Nordheimer ravine – paint and paper

Posted: July 10, 2021 in graffiti and street art, locations
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below: M is for Mural and probably more.  One of the pieces of street art and graffiti seed under Spadina Road as it crosses Nordheimer Ravine.

street art and graffiti on a concrete support of a bridge, old woman's head and face and lots of names - Alex, Sam, Becca, Faith, tall grass and shrubs growing around it

below: A closer view with God & Love and many little hearts.

close up of old woman in mural, words god and love are written above her, some symbols beside her, lots of little hearts

below: A little black and white dog stands beside another part of the bridge

a small black and white dog stands beside graffiti on the bottom part of a bridge support. triangle headed man holding a big question mark, the word vice, a man with red head band and red bandana over lower part of face,

below: Black Lives Matter mural under the bridge with the now iconic phrases of “I can’t breathe” and “No Justice, No Peace”.
BLM mural on bridge supports, I can't breath, no justice, no peace are words painted on it, also a wall full of names of those who have died

below: A closer view showing some of the names that are painted on the wall.

below: Home to someone, surrounded by graffiti – including “You are what you give others”

tent and belongings of a homeless man under a bridge surrounded by tags and other graffiti

a man in blue top and shorts runs on a path under a bridge , support of bridge has graffiti on it, large red s and b on blue background

below: Some of the stickers seen in the area – an S333 red ring pop and Lucha graffiti. Life© takes first place with trp613 in second, and Bruho coming in third.  Another Bruho character tries to escape the computer monitor with red and blue Kizmet32 faces right below.  Every Knows Us as a man in a gas mask.

3 poles with stickers on them

below: A mouse and a lost creature

stickers on pole, one of a mouse, and other with word lost

graffiti on the concrete supports of a bridge

below: Black and white photos with Chinese lettering make up this paper paste-up

paper paste up graffiti on a concrete pole with chinese lettering and black and white photos on it, orange and blue spray paint beside the paste up

below: Pink and white text

pink and white tag graffiti, text, calligraphy, on dark green background on lower part of concrete bridge support

woman walking on path in ravine park, with graffiti on wall behind her

metal screwed to wood

Posted: April 10, 2021 in graffiti and street art
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First, a quick Latin translation lesson
1. Ad perniciem solet agi sinceritas is Latin for “Honesty is often goaded to ruin”, a quote from Phaedrus
2. Bibere venenum in auro, another Latin phrase and it means “drink poison from a gold cup”.
3. Fortuna caeca est translates to “Fortune is blind.” from Cicero (died 43 BC, he was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and philosopher who wrote extensively).
4. Pulvis et umbraa sumus equals “We are dust and shadow” from Horace (died 8 B.C., a Roman poet)
5. Graviora manent – greater dangers await, or the worst is yet to come

These Latin words, and more, were all found here:

a long narrow, vertical, engraved metal graffiti on a wood pole. Latin words are written around a fish like creature shape with designs inside
below: A closer view
Leaf like designs in an oval shape with Latin words written around the outside

All of the following were on the same utility pole surrounded by a lot of old staples and tacks.

below: A crown with 12 + 1 + 1/2 = 13 1/2 fastened with an 8 point, or double square, screw.

below: Another 13 1/2, this time with with PJD and a fountain at the top of a building

round metal engraving on a small circle, screwed to a wood utility pole. Design is like a fountain on the top of a building 13 1/2

below: Similar architecture is repeated in the next piece, but now it is a taller building with more than a fountain on top – it looks like a pineapple, or a grenade with fireworks.

brown metal engraved with a portrait of Dudley George who was killed by Opp at Ipperwash in September 1995

below: In memory of Dudley George who died at Ipperwash, shot by the OPP. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but the screws resemble bullet holes.

below: The domed building appears to be upside down. The rain drops are “falling” the wrong way. Is that symbolic? Or because only one screw is holding it in place and it slipped?

very small engraving of a domed building with clouds and rain drops, graffiti or street art on a pole

below: It’s difficult to see, but there are a lot of words on the light metal piece too, but not in Latin. There is also a bird whose feathers are made from Us and Vs.

some metal pieces that are graffiti on a pole

below: “I loved you” is written on the side of the piece of metal. You’ll have to take my word for it, but the other side of the metal says “Too little too late”.

below: And last, just a plain X.  Unfortunately, it’s like someone who signs their name by making an X as I have no idea whose artwork this is.  Do you know?

metal in the shape of an X screwed onto a wood utility pole

And let’s hope that the worst is not yet to come!

Protests.  Advertisements. Words.

Posted: March 14, 2021 in graffiti and street art
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Good morning!
And welcome to another Toronto blog post!  This time, it’s all about reading material found on the street recently. In a lot of ways, it’s a snapshot of some of the issues and concerns that occupy us at this particular moment in time.

on black hoardings, large white letters that spell good morn

Papers on boxes, papers on poles, and papers on walls.  Protests.  Advertisements. Words.  Car caravan protest; Take back the night; call Jacki.  A potpourri of thoughts and causes.  An abundance of opinions and objectives.

many posters on a pole and a metal box on a sidewalk

below: 62nd Tibetans National Uprising Day, March 10th.  In March of 1959, there was an unsuccessful uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in which about 87,000 people died; it was at this time that the Dalai Lama fled to India (in the Himalayas) where he has lived in exile ever since.

poster advertising the 62nd Tibetan National Uprising Day car caravan protest on MArch 10th

below: Khaleel Seivwright is a carpenter who has been constructing tiny shelters.  Some of the funds for the project come from a GoFundMe campaign.  These structures have been placed in encampments for the homeless in parks and on other city-owned land but back in February, the city filed an injunction to stop the shelters on city property.

a poster on a pole that wants Toronto city hall to save lives by not tearing down tiny shelters for the homeless that a man has been making

below: Another poster concerning the shortfalls of social housing in this city.  As the average cost of house in the GTA hovers around a million dollars, there is a growing lack of affordable housing.

build social housing now poster on a pole, city hall protest, want to expropriate 214 to 230 Sherbourne Stret to build social housing

below: Cops aren’t workers – no police unions

poster on a utility pole, yellow paper, orange words, Cops aren't workers,

below: Defund the police by 50% and invest in community supports and services – on top.  And on the bottom, Disco 3000, a weekly (Thursday nights) radio show on Parkdale Private Radio.

two posters on a pole, one is Gord PErks Defund the police by 50 percent and the other is Disco 3000

below: Covid lockdown protest

sign on a front lawn that says no more lockdowns

below: We got a problem – Because the ones who are causing the problem don’t want us to know what it is.”  The people named are all conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.

ripped paper on wooden pole with lots of staples, we got a problem, a covid protest piece

self isol nation spray painted on a wall as part of a graffiti painting

below: A quote from Maya Angelou: “Nothing will work unless you do”

on an underpass wall, a black and white picture of a woman, Maya Angelou, and words in pink that say Nothing will work unless you do. This a quote from Maya Angelou

below: A few survive –  “Radical simply means ‘Grasping things at the root’ Angela Davis.  Plus, My body; my choice.

5 posters on a wall, most of the words have been blacked out. The poster that is still totally legible says Radical simply means

below:  In Parkdale a lot of the posters have been cut down leaving mysterious bits behind.  The words here are written in a different alphabet and I have no idea what the poster was advertising or promoting.

a poster on a wood utility pole has been torn but the four edges remain

below: Beside the stairs – Free Hong Hong; Free Tibet

on a white concrete wall beside hand railing by stairs, black marker words that say free Hong Kong free Tibet

back to the alleyway of dreams

Posted: November 17, 2020 in alleys, graffiti and street art
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Recently I was in the area east of Danforth and Main when I had one of those moments where I stop and say to myself “I’ve been here before”.   I recognized some of the street art in the lane  (see Alleyway of Dreams, 2016).  For this blog post, I have started with the artwork that I didn’t remember on the assumption that it is newer.   The murals that remain from 2016 all seem to be in good shape.

below: A collage of pictures called “Against All Odds” in the shape of a map.

collage of pictures and images on an exterior cement wall

below: On the same wall as the above is this mural of a swan.  My apolgies to Alika, Angela, Dylan, Molly, Serval, Bandi, Ludo and Weal (?) whose names I chopped off.  To the right of the swan, and behind a parked car is a piece by Mediah.

mural of a swan with a list of names to the left and a piece by mediah to the right

below: A hummingbird with a red hibiscus flower.

mural of a hummingbird with a red hibiscus flower

garages in an alley with garage doors that have been painted with street art, the garage in front has a light greens side door with two birds sitting on a braanch painted on it

Love birds of a different colour

street art painting of two birds sitting on a branch, a yellow bird and a blue bird with a white head.

below: There had been a fire in the back of a furniture store not long before I walked the alley this summer.

rubble, the result of a fire, sits in a pile behind a store in an alley, part of a chair sits on top

below: A black cat in the moonlight, sitting on some very curly branches.  This row of fences was painted in 2016.

mural on a fence in an alley, a black sitting on a tree branch with curly branches, moonlight behind the cat

below: This blue pug was here previously but the rabbit that was once beside it seems to have disappeared.

mural in mostly blue of a pug's face, dog with red tongue and brownish eyes, on wood
mural of a tiger's face on a garage door

below: The blue rhinoceros with the whimsical horn hasn’t moved either.

mural of rhino head and horn on a garage door in an alley, rhinoceros

below: Stay Out is still sprayed on the old wood door but now it has a new lock.  The blue 666 is also an addition.

old wood door beside metal garage door, outside, in an alley, large words spray painted on door that say stay out 666

large green plastic bag on the ground filled with wood palletts, in an alley, in front of a garage door with street art on it

below: “Bee Haven” from 2014.  One of the earliest bee/pollinator murals in the city.

mural of a hand holding a plant growing in a flower pot, plus bees,

bee with blue body and bum in a mural

hand holding a flower pot that is cracked because the root of the plant is growing, in a mural

below: Signatures.  The mural was painted by Elie J. Saad, Sarah Van Dusen, and Curtia Wright with help from Community Centre 55 kids.

back of a store on Danforth with apartments above

what’s hit the wall

Posted: October 20, 2020 in graffiti and street art
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Just a small collection of some of the graffiti, and related, that I have seen lately.

part of a mural on a wall, words that say the walls won't know what hit them.

below: A on top and B below.  A = Alvin the Chipmunk as Aladdin.  B = Bugs Bunny as Bullwinkle eating a banana.

two coloured posters on a box on the street, both torn. On top, on red background is bugs bunny. on bottom on orange background is bugs bunny eating a banana

below: Street art by Mike Salisbury, “Out of Time” red emergency phone.

out of time, red emergency phone, street art, in old wall phone booth

below: Between the Madness Festival and the Hitler poster, a four line poem from “The Hawaiian healing program Ho’oponopono”.  It’s a real thing apparently and perhaps I’m forgiven, thanked and loved.

on a bulletin board, three 8 and one inch by 11 inch papers, posters in black ink,

below: Some friendly ghostly figures in time for Christmas.

ghostly white paper slaps on a met box, ghost faced bat, also bear in overalls,

below: Some black on white faces and a streetadventures sticker

stickers on a pole

below: Danger due to resisting.

red and white danger due to sign, altered to say Danger due to resisting

below: Life jackets required because of a water hazard danger.

red and white danger due to sign, altered to say danger due to water hazard, life jackets required

cat graffiti on cardboard, tied to Toronto circular bike stand

Parler23 is actually Parler Sneaker Company so this is probably part of an ad campaign.

happy cat waving sticker, holding gold coin that says get the money

happy cat sticker on a wall

all, nothing, and a smattering in between

Posted: August 24, 2020 in alleys, graffiti and street art, history, intersections, old buildings, public art
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Most of these pictures were taken on a walk within the area bounded by Dundas East, Broadview, Queen East, and Carlaw.

below: All or nothing

red brick wall with graffiti words that say all or nothing

below: Same same but different.

two old Bell telephone booths

below: “We miss you” at Queen Alexandra Middle School.  An older school, built in 1904/5, used to be on this site.  It was named after the Queen of England at the time, the wife of King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra.

on the fence by a high school, words in white attached to the fence that say we miss you

below: Also at Queen Alexandra Middle School, about 200 large black and white portraits of staff and students were on display on the exterior wall of the school.  This installation is part of the global ‘Inside Out’ project.  To date, Inside Out has appeared in 129 countries and has involved more than 260,000 people.  In fact, they were in Toronto for Nuit Blanche back in 2015.

inside Out project large black and white pictures of students mounted on the exterior wall of a school

below: Public art at Carlaw and Dundas.  I had mentioned this structure by Pierre Poussin back in March of this year.   Not a lot has been done on it in the meantime except for the preparations for some sort of pattern at ground level.

new obelisk structure, public art, rusted metal, at Carlaw and Dundas, still being installed, port a pottie in the background

push button at intersection for pedestrian crossing, with a rusted sign above it

below: The railway tracks cross Dundas Street just west of Carlaw. The tracks run on a NE – SW diagonal as they travel south from Gerrard.

a cyclist on Dundas street about to go under the railway track bridge

below: Save Jimmie Simpson park poster.   The Ontario Line, or the Relief Line of the subway/LRT may or may not come this way.   The Relief Line was once planned as an underground line under Pape to almost Eastern before swinging west towards downtown.  Someone then said why not run it above ground where the tracks already exist between Gerrard & Pape and the south end of the Don Valley Parkway at Corktown Common- and we can have a Leslieville stop.   Has any decision been made?  Is Toronto going to leave it all in limbo, or in the discussion/planning stage, forever and ever… and ever….

posters on a wood utility pole, bottom is to protest Ontario Line (subway) and to keep it underground and not run it through Jimmie Simpson parl. upper poster is for a lost cat

below: The north part of Jimmie Simpson Park.  The park is a right angle triangle with a peak at Dundas East and a base along Queen East.  The long side of the triangle is railway tracks which run behind the trees.

Jimmie Simpson park, people and dogs

a sign that says slow down on a fence above a concrete wall with paintings of plants and flowers on it

below: Once upon a time there was a railway station here, on Queen East at De Grassi that is.  It was operational between 1896 and 1932 and demolished in 1974.  In the beginning there was a level crossing here but after a number of accidents, including a collision between a freight train and a street car in 1904, the railway corridor was elevated.

historic plaque for Riverdale Railway station

below: Old black and white photo from the City of Toronto Archives, found online at “Old Time Trains”

old black and white photo from 1915, City of Toronto Archives, of building of the railway bridge over Queen East at Riverdale station

below: Aged and peeling painting of a Canada goose that was on the railway underpass.

top part of a Canada Goose painting on an underpass, bottom part has been painted over with pale grey paint

below: Eat the rich – and a picnic table is provided for your convenience. Don’t worry about the trains, they’re long gone. This was once a spur line and it hasn’t existed for years .  You can still find small sections of track but most of it has been paved over. (near Carlaw and Dundas)

a wood picnic table at the edge of a small parking lot and beside an old railway crossing sign

street sign, Riverside District, Strange street, with a a no passing sign beside it

store window, two mannequins in summer attire, woman in bikini and man in shorts and long sleeve t-shirt, also a black lives matter poster

below: Looking west, towards downtown, along Dundas East.  The old red brick building is on the northeast corner of Dundas and Broadview.

intersection of Broadview and Dundas East, looking west along Dundas towards Broadview. Large old red brick building on the north east corner
below: Flipped around and now looking east from Broadview in 1954.  The red brick building from the above photo appears to be Dennis House and it seems that they are advertising the fact that they have televisions.   On the south side of Dundas is a drug store.  That building is still there but now it is a variety store whose windows are often covered with Lotto649 and LottoMax ads.   In fact, the picture of the Bell telephone boxes near the beginning of this post was taken here.

photo credit: City of Toronto Archives, found online on a Blog TO page

below: This jumble of colours and lines can be found just east of Broadview and they are just visible in the background of the above picture.   I love the little white door that probably leads to a basement apartment (or a secret garden in the front yard?!)

houses on dundas east near broadview

below: If you walk farther east on Dundas from Broadview you will see a collection of old two storey houses with their slate mansard roofs and dormer windows.  This roof style is typical of “Second Empire” houses built in the late 1800s.   I’ve always been intrigued by this group of houses but I have never been able to find out much about their history.

semi divided house from the 1800's, mansard roof of slate, dormer windows

below: The end houses, at Boulton, have already been replaced.

row houses, old mansard roof style from the 1800's with a new 4 storey apartment complex at the end

below: And there are houses with similar architecture on nearby side streets.

corer houses

looking down a dead end street that ends at a school yard, summer time, large trees and cars line the street

Last but not least, a little bit of graffiti to close off this post.

below: Urban ninja squadron

red angle blob street art graffiti on a black wall

 

stencil graffiti of a yellow bee

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