The Day

Location: Kipling bus terminal

Date photo taken: 28 April 2025

The new Kipling bus terminal on the western edge of Toronto is a light, airy building with glass walls and large open stairwells. It also features over 220 square meters (or 2400 square feet) of vitreous tile mosaics designed by the Winnipeg-based artist Simon Hughes. The designs around the building are all different, some more abstract or geometric, but all are tied together by the colour scheme and Hughes' overall concept. The detail above is from one of the most striking murals, which wraps around one of the stairwells and presents an ever-changing view of an almost-but-not-quite-familiar city as you work your way down the stairs and around the landings. I was attracted to the DONUTS which is why I took a picture of this particular section, and was tickled to later read in an interview with Hughes that it's one of many Easter eggs that he included in the cityscape. 

Artaic, the company who made the tiles, has a wonderful description of Hughes' concept on their website: The Day was inspired by Hughes’ imaginative vision of the city. Referencing a wide variety of symbols, architectural styles, and landscapes, the installation blends fantasy and reality. Using icy blue colorways reminiscent of Toronto’s cool temperatures, Hughes collaborated with Artaic to create an inverted color gradient. The mosaic artwork features dark tones at the top of the shapes that dissolve into a white background, creating the appearance of a city emerging from morning fog, haze, or a snow squall."

Wilson tiles

 

Location: Wilson subway

Date photo taken: 19 August 2023

When the Spadina line was built in the 1970s, the TTC engaged three different architectural firms to design the various stations. Due to the challenges inherent in the site however, the TTC kept Wilson station for itself. Which means that the tile patterns on the platform walls are likely the work of someone in the TTC design department. Kudos to them. They are strongly reminiscent of their time and still striking. 

Tempo

Location: St. Clair West station

Date photo taken: 25 September 2013

If you've ever found yourself in St. Clair West station, you might recognize this blast of colour. It's a small piece of Gordon Rayner's extensive mural which adorns the mezzanine level, one floor above the trains. When the Spadina line was built in the 1970s, the TTC selected a number of Ontario artists to produce art for each of the nine stations on the line. While some of the pieces have since been removed, the majority are still in place and stations on other lines, in particular the new Sheppard line, also feature large installations. With a little time and for the price of a TTC ride, you can take a tour of this spaced out gallery of Canadian art.

Pioneer Village Station

 

Location: 2800 Steeles Avenue West
Date photo taken: 22 September 2018

This is one of two similar-looking buildings that act as entrances to the Pioneer Village TTC station. Designed by SGA/IBI Group Architects in joint venture with Alsop Architects, the TTC page dedicated to this stop describes them as "a pair of sculptural objects, robust and yet embodying playfulness and free flowing movement." They are certainly striking. A friend, on seeing this picture without the aid of their glasses, mistook the structure for a turret. That is forever how I will think of these buildings, and it seems somehow fitting. After all, they sit on opposite sides of Steeles, one in Toronto and one in Vaughan, protectors of their respective realms.

Passing on the TTC

Location: Bessarion TTC station

Date photo taken: 14 July 2019

Again this week an image that references people. Sort of. The work is by Montreal born, Toronto based artist Sylvie Bélanger. The tiled photo collages which together are called "Passing" are found throughout Bessarion station. The entrance floor is where you will find this section, and other legs and feet. Go down a level to the platform and you find lots of heads. At first the placement puzzled me, but once I got beyond simple anatomy (head high, feet low) I saw a logic to the presentation. The upper concourse is where people are in motion, coming and going, and there is space to move. On the platform, things can get more crowded, and more often than not, your view is limited to the backs of the heads in front of you. Although from what I hear, crowding isn't exactly a problem at this particular station.

Fun fact: In the 2018 ridership statistics (the latest currently available on the TTC website) Bessarion station typically sees 2990 customers coming or going on an average weekday. While this number is pretty low, it's not the least travelled station in the system. Ellesmere, Midland and Downsview Park all see fewer patrons. 

Desert Blooms

Location: East-west platform at Yonge and Bloor

Date photo taken: 28 January 2019

Desert blooms have come to Toronto just in time for our deep freeze. Scottsdale, Arizona, which is home to a very robust arts and culture scene, has taken over the Yonge and Bloor subway station with their colourful flower murals. The flowers, which invite Torontonians to "come see what blooms in the desert" are the work of Phoenix-based artist Lauren Lee. Ms. Lee's original canvases were digitally enlarged and printed on vinyl before being shipped to two of North America’s busiest transportation hubs, Penn Station and Plaza in New York City and Yonge and Bloor station in Toronto. Watch the art take shape and hear Ms. Lee talk about the project on absolutelyscottsdale.com's website.

Jiggity-Jig

Location: Dundas at Augusta Ave.
Date photo taken: 30 August 2013

This cat striding across a globe is one of several pieces commissioned by the TTC in the late 1990s and placed around the periphery of Kensington Market. Each piece features either a cat, a globe, a chair or some combination of these elements. The works were created by Shirley Yanover in collaboration with David Hlynsky. Originally, the pole on which it was mounted was painted orange and featured a sign for Kensington Market. The upgrade from the original to this colourful robot happened about four years ago. Moses Kofi, an artist known for his work with recycled materials, was commissioned to add the arms, and Javid JAH, a graffiti artist, did the painting.

Snapshot - Queen Street East

Location: North side of Queen Street East, at Hamilton Street 

Date photo taken: 21 December 2014

Image 2 in the Snapshot Series

This Snapshot shows the north side of Queen Street just west of Broadview. This short stretch is in for some changes. The windows of the building on the left are papered over, the tenant Dark Horse Espresso having moved to the new Streetcar sales centre just down the street. The Broadview Hotel, the building at the right with the peaked roof, which until recently operated as Jilly's strip club, has been purchased by Streetcar and is currently undergoing renovations. What exactly it will become has not yet been announced but the company assures those in the community that this historic building is in good hands. And finally, the streetcars on Queen Street are set to be replaced by the new sleek models, but not until 2016/2017.

Immersion Land

Location: Sheppard-Yonge station, subway platform
Date photo taken: 28 April 2014

This rural view is one small portion of a large wrap-around artwork created on the Sheppard subway platform by artist Stacey Spiegel. Taken all together the images represent the varied landscapes to be found along Yonge Street as it stretches from Lake Ontario to North Bay. The image looks pixelated because it is a mosaic - 1,500,000 small porcelain tiles were used to create the range of landscapes. When viewed up close the scenes can be hard to decipher but when viewed at a distance, say from the opposite platform, the images are clear.

Wuikinuxv First Nation House Post Replica

  

Location: Museum subway station

Date photo taken: 27 February 2013

This column is a replica of a house post from the Wuikinuxv First Nation in British Columbia. The original, which was carved from a cedar log, is part of the Royal Ontario Museum's collection which is only steps away. It is one of several striking columns that represent cultural treasures housed in the museums overhead that were unveiled as part of the renovation of the Museum subway station completed in 2008. This platform design, so strikingly different from any other in the city, is the result of Arts on Track, a project spearheaded by the Toronto Community Foundation, which put donated money toward this subway improvement.