Fishing in Mimico Creek Mural

Location: On an east-facing wall at 5096 Dundas St. W.
Date photo taken: 17 April 2013
Image 3 in the Mural Series

The area around Islington Avenue and Dundas Street West was once the Village of Islington, with the first permanent settlers arriving in the early 1800s. Today, the strip of Dundas between Montgomery Road and Kipling Avenue is the focus of the Village of Islington Business Improvement Area. They have chosen to tell the history of this corner of the city through a series of 20 murals, spaced along Dundas. This image is a portion of a mural entitled Fishing in Mimico Creek and was painted, like most of the other murals, by John Kuna.

If you want to learn more, visit the BIA’s website to find out about guided mural walks, or check out Heritage Toronto’s Islington Village iTour and let it lead you on a tour of the neighbourhood.

Masc - Old City Hall

 

Location: On a corbel on the east side of Old City Hall
Date photo taken: 4 April 2013
Image 2 in the Mascs of Toronto Series

Old City Hall was designed by E.J. Lennox and completed in 1899. It is an example of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. You don’t have to look very hard to find interesting faces on this building – they are everywhere!
 

Heritage Pig

Location: Riverdale Farm, 201 Winchester St.
Date photo taken: 7 April 2013

Riverdale Farm is a small oasis on the eastern edge of downtown and the best part of a visit there is walking around the pens and saying hello to the animals. This is an Irish Tamworth pig, a hardy heritage breed that does well in more extreme climates like Canada’s, but isn’t well-suited to modern meat production methods and so is now listed as Threatened. Riverdale Farm’s animals are all chosen to represent animals that would have been present on area farms at the turn of the 20th century.

Bell Box - Patrice Stephens-Bourgeault

Location: Grosvenor St. just west of Yonge St.
Date photo taken: 11 December 2012
Image #2 in the Bellbox Series

This box, with a theme of monarchs and milkweed, is part of the re-boot of the Bellbox project which was undertaken by the Bay Corridor Community Association and 6 St. Joseph House (the Yellow Door Learning Centre) in 2009, with help from the City of Toronto, Bell Canada, Benjamin Moore and Goodbye Graffiti. Between 2009 and 2012 a total of 48 boxes were painted in the area roughly bounded by Avenue Road to the west, Roxborough St. to the north, Sherbourne St. to the east and Dundas St. to the south. This box was painted by Patrice Stephens-Bourgeault.

Traffic Graphic

 

Location: Outside the Simcoe Place Parking Garage, 200 Front St. W.

Date photo taken: 25 March 2013

This terrific graphic is located on the pillars which flank the entrance to the Simcoe Place parking garage on Front Street. Obviously it’s intended to inform the public of traffic patterns around the entrance to help keep everyone safe, but it’s also awesome. Also in the category of keeping people safe, a member of the police force is on hand during the evening rush hour to help manage traffic flow. Perhaps this focus on safety is a reflection of the building's tenant: The Workplace Safety & Insurance Board.

Fur Trading Relief

Location: Commerce Court North Building, south side
Date photo taken: 3 November 2012

The Commerce Court North building at King and Bay Streets, completed in 1931 to house the headquarters of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, is a gorgeous example of Art Deco architecture. Not only is it capped with a series of massive carved heads (check out this awesome Flickr picture), but there are carvings galore to be appreciated at ground level. The reliefs depict Canadian wildlife, plants and iconic enterprises, as well as scenes of gods and goddesses associated with commerce. The carvings were done by William Dawson of Montreal and Peter Thomson of Toronto. This particular relief which depicts fur trading can be found on the south side of the building.

To read more, see Creating Memory, by John Warkentin.

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.