The Weather Gods

Location: 4905 Dufferin, just south of Steeles
Date photo taken: 10 June 2014

This towering sculpture on the grounds of the Environment Canada building on Dufferin Street was created by sculptor Ron Baird in the early 1970s. It consists of three figures and despite being rooted in the ground, it is far from being a static piece. If you look up, you'll see that the structure includes many moving parts which recall instruments used in monitoring wind speeds. It also uses air movements to generate sound through a series of pipes and tuned metal arrays.

According to the nearby plaque "...the sculptor never gives names or titles to any of his works, however he uses the following verse to describe this sculpture:

Three dark figures
making the weather
in folk, in myth, in legend
a threefold test.
Shiva, Vishnu, Brahmin.
Father, Son, Holy Ghost.
Triune, Triumvirate, Tribunal.
One is isolate
Two is divisive
Three is peace.
Three is torment.
Three is potent.
Power, power, power.
Air, Fire, Water.
Three dark figures,
Making the weather."

Is it friendly?

Location: Victor Avenue
Date photo taken: 14 March 2015

Seeing this hand reaching out from the grate in the sidewalk gave me a start at first, but I quickly decided it was a friendly hand. What you can't see is that it's reaching out toward another green hand extended from another grate further down the sidewalk. I feel like if I dropped my keys down that grate, whatever this hand is attached to would retrieve them for me.

A Guinness a day

Location: the side of McVeigh's at Church and Adelaide
Date photo taken: 3 February 2013

This mural is a recreation of one of Guinness' earliest beer ads. It features seven glasses of Guinness, one for each day of the week. The tagline which ran at the bottom of the ad was "Guinness is good for you". Print ads of the time advertised Guinness as a promoter of health, noting that "Guinness builds strong muscles. It feeds exhausted nerves. It enriches the blood. Doctors affirm that Guinness is a valuable restorative after Influenza and other weakening illnesses. Guinness is a valuable natural aid in cases of insomnia."

This mural was one of two that used to grace the Church Street wall of McVeigh's Irish Pub, a family-run Toronto institution for over 50 years. The bottom two floors of the building were refreshed with black paint last year and the murals were painted over. Large cut-outs of pints of Guinness still remind you that good health can be had, or at least toasted to, inside.

Polar Bear and Cubs

 

Location: South facade of 120 Bloor St. E., near the corner of Church St.

Date photo taken: 6 December 2014

This is one of two sculptural decorations on the south facade of the former Crown Life Building on Bloor St. just east of Yonge. This one was designed by portrait artist Cleeve Horne and carved by Italian born sculptor Louis Temporale. Like the other panel on the building it depicts a touching family scene from nature, but for some reason I've always felt that mamma bear just ate the last doughnut and didn't offer to share.