Elicser and His New Bathurst Street Mural

Location: East side of rail underpass on Bathurst, north of Dupont
Date photo taken: 7 July 2014
Image 12 in the Mural Series

Last year the railway underpass on Bathurst, just north of Dupont, got a lot more interesting. Street artist Elicser was selected to produce a mural on the west wall as part of the City of Toronto's StreetARToronto program (or StART for short). The program, which is part of the city's transportation division, provides funding for murals across the city with the dual goals of encouraging walking by making the city brighter and more pleasant, and reducing vandalism. Underpasses are a specific target as are traffic signal boxes but any public or private surface is eligible.

The 2013 mural is entitled We Built This City and includes imagery inspired by the neighbourhood, its businesses and residents. Now Elicser is back, painting the east wall of the underpass. Can't wait to see the final product!

Honest Ed's Theatrical Walls

Location: Honest Ed's, 581 Bloor St. W.
Date photo taken: 7 July 2014

If you're a fan of theatre or just looking for something to occupy you while you hide from the elements consider popping in to Honest Ed's. This store at Bloor and Bathurst, known for its iconic sign and discount prices, is also home to an incredible collection of celebrity photographs. Placed randomly around the store are scads of publicity pics and head shots from actors, musicians and other artists who have visited the city. There are also historic images of the Royal Alexandra Theatre, where many of these people performed, and the stairwells are lined with vintage theatre posters. When the theatre faced demolition in the 1960s, Honest Ed Mirvish purchased it, refurbished it and continued its tradition of bringing top talent to the city.

Until the end of the week Honest Ed's Alley and parking lot is also hosting the Toronto Fringe Festival's Fringe Club and Visual Fringe. Go there to mingle with theatre goers and performers, see an Alley play, listen to music, eat, drink, shop and generally hang out.

As for the store, it will be open for browsing and shopping until the end of December 2016.

Toronto Sculpture Garden - Gold, Silver & Lead

Location: Toronto Sculpture Garden, 115 King St. E.
Date photo taken: 22 April 2014

This large installation at Toronto's Sculpture Garden is called Gold, Silver and Lead and is by artist Jed Lind. According to the artist's statement, it "is a monumental stack of refined first generation Honda Civics, in painted steel, which rises 20’ above the viewer in a repetitive succession. Recalling the form of Brancusi’s Endless Column, but modified and transformed, it suggests
both infinity and the wholeness of a finite form. The work also references 1979, when the Toronto Sculpture Garden site was still a parking lot..."

The call back to the previous life of this space is fitting as this installation marks the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Sculpture Garden. The small space on the south side of King Street, just east of Church, was opened in 1981 and since then has functioned both as public park and exhibit space. This particular piece has been in place longer than expected as the private foundation which has provided funding for new art installations since the park opened has ended its involvement. Thankfully a new solution has been found to ensure that installations are refreshed on a regular basis. Starting this October a piece from Nuit Blanche will be placed in the Garden and moving forward, pieces will be created specifically for this space in partnership with Nuit Blanche. Thank you to Councillor Pam McConnell, curator Rena Greer, Nuit Blanche and everyone else who was involved, for making sure that the Sculpture Garden will remain a vibrant little corner of our city!

The View From Here - Toronto Islands

Location: Taken from Franklin Children's Garden, Toronto Islands, looking north to the CN Tower
Date photo taken: 29 May 2014

In case you hadn't noticed, Toronto is undergoing a building boom. New construction is changing our streetscapes and altering our neighbourhoods, in some cases creating brand new ones where none existed before. It's nice then to have a landmark like the CN Tower, familiar and visible from so many different parts of the city. Even parts that feel miles removed from the city, like the Toronto Islands. Every now and again I intend to post a picture like this one, which documents one particular view in the city at one particular time. I think it will be interesting to look back in future years to see how those views have changed.

The Fish Hut - Stormwater Management

Location: The Queensway at Moynes Ave.
Date photo taken: 5 May 2014

When I first spotted this small hut sitting on the sidewalk I assumed it was a fish and chip stand. The painting on the side features a stylized fish so it seemed like a good guess but I was wrong. This structure is part of the monitoring system for a new stormwater runoff project being tested by the city. The project is called The Queensway Sustainable Sidewalk Study.

In the normal course of things, when it rains in Toronto the stormwater runs off through grates on the street and then flows completely untreated through tunnels to nearby streams or Lake Ontario. Along the way the water picks up debris and pollutants from road surfaces and lawns. This new system redirects rain water to two large chambers under the sidewalk. These chambers are filled with sand and mulch and have trees planted in them. When the water enters the chambers, it is filtered through layers of cloth and then is further filtered by the tree roots, sand and mulch. The result is cleaner water entering nearby Mimico Creek and happy, healthy trees providing shade on the sidewalk.

The small painted hut holds the monitoring equipment necessary to determine the effectiveness of the project. If it's a success, more chambers will be installed throughout the city. The painting on the hut was carried out by the Cecil Community Centre's Graffiti Transformation Project. It was designed and painted by program coordinator Erin Zimerman and a team of six youth artists.

For more information on stormwater management, visit the Toronto Water website, or check out this earlier post about the Yellow Fish program.

Walk Here

Location: In the sidewalk, Bloor St. W. at Brock Ave.
Date photo taken: 9 June 2014

This little bit of sparkle in the sidewalk is part of a street art project initiated by the Bloordale community called the Walk Here Bloordale Community Garden. Local residents were invited to a drawing workshop where they were encouraged to think about the many ways that flowers pop up in our lives, then to draw a flower that reminded them of a time when they either gave or received a flower. One hundred of these drawings were transformed into small stainless steel sculptures by artist Dyan Marie which were then embedded in the sidewalk along Bloor Street when the city re-paved it in 2013. This is a great example of how a local Business Improvement Area can work with city services to positively influence their neighbourhood.

The Bloordale BIA formed in 1976 and their mandate is: Improving the atmosphere, appearance and the economic viability of Bloordale, Bloor Street from Dufferin Street to Lansdowne Avenue. Coming up on July 19 - 20, they are presenting the BIG on Bloor Festival.

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.