Honour Canoe

 

Location: Bain Avenue west of Logan

Date photo taken: 14 August 2019

This canoe is a uniquely beautiful project by residents of Bain Co-op, representing their commitment to  reconciliation. It was painted by Les Harper, an Indigenous artist, with help from local children, and is planted with Indigenous healing plants. The project was a way to introduce the community to Indigenous issues and the stone in front bears the inscription below, to ensure that passers-by understand its significance.

 

The Bain Co-op Canoe acknowledges the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the Residential School System. In a Spirit of Mutual Healing, our Canoe is in Honour of all those affected by this Experience. Painted and Planted by the Community.

June 2017

A video describing the project is available on the project's Facebook page. 

Shalom II

 

Location: Bathurst between Sheppard and Finch

Date photo taken: 19 August 2023

If you wander into the 27 acre Sherman Campus of the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre on Bathurst, you might spot this monumental work by Kosso Eloul. It's the third of his pieces to be featured on this blog and while all are different in finish and arrangement, all are recognizable as the work of a single artist. In his own words, Eloul was "strongly prejudiced towards simplicity" and he used geometry, which was both "eternal and elemental", to explore relationships, the precariousness of life, and the search for stability. 

According to Toronto Sculpture, this piece was commissioned by the Jewish Community Centre in 1978.

Heading for destinations unknown

Location: 1073 Bloor Street West

Date photo taken: 25 October 2015

I don't know the story behind this mural but I loved it instantly. With the colourful sky, the rolling water and the classic wardrobe, it just screams adventure. It's in a laneway, halfway between Gladstone and Havelock, just south of Bloor Street.