Traffic Signal Box - $10 Face

Location: Corner of York and Wellington
Date photo taken: 4 September 2018
Image #11 in the Traffic Signal Box Series

In 2018 the Financial District BIA partnered with StART’s Outside the Box program to decorate a selection of traffic signal boxes in the downtown core. They put out a call to artists and from the more than 50 submissions received, chose 5 finalists. Dean Martin was one of those finalists, and this is one of two boxes he designed. Viewed up close, the graphic appears to be simply a pattern of circles, but as you move away, the image resolves into a portrait. Each box features two individuals who have at some point graced the Canadian ten-dollar bill. In his artist’s statement he explains: “… The individuals we choose to feature on our currency are also reflective of nation building; of who we are and how we see ourselves. This perception however, has evolved greatly over the years and nowhere is it more apparent than in the diversity of those we seek to acknowledge and celebrate… This is meant to be more than a one-way journey that simply re-evaluates yesterday’s values versus today’s. It is about standing far enough back to see that character and contribution manifest in different ways and that it can come from anyone, a feature of Canada that make us the envy of the world.” More of his statement can be read here.