Tiger at the Vet

Location: south wall of 170 Main Street, at Gerrard

Date photo taken: 20 February 2016

In October 2012 a new mural appeared at Gerrard and Main. It featured figures engaged in martial arts, which was fitting given that the building was the home of DeSantos Martial Arts, owned and operated by Veronica DeSantos, taekwondo and karate master and a member of the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. When the gym moved up the street, the mural stayed. Some adjustments have been made to the doors however. The original mural elements have been painted over and each door now sports a fierce creature - a tiger in this case - along with a yin and yang symbol comprised of a dog and cat, the logo for the building's new tenant, Main Street Veterinary Clinic.

Sumach Silhouette

Location: Sumach Street, north of Eastern

Date photo taken: 23 July 2016

Running up the curve of Sumach from Eastern Avenue is a long fence-like sculpture filled with images of Toronto, past and present. Starting with forests and indigenous structures near Eastern, as you move north you begin to encounter settler ships, log houses, carriages and eventually the buildings that would come to define the city. While some call it the Sumach Silhouette, the official name is Site Specific. It was commissioned by Waterfront Toronto and created by sculptors Scott Eunson and Marianne Lovink. It consists of complimentary panels of corten and stainless steel, with lighting between the two, making this piece even more dramatic after dark.

Adelaide Court House

Location: Basement of Terroni, 57 Adelaide St. E.

Date photo taken: 31 July 2019

The building that currently houses Terroni on Adelaide once served up something very different than pizza. The three-storey structure, fronted by four commanding pillars, was built in 1852-3 to serve as the County of York's third courthouse, and it is one of the few pre-Confederation buildings still to be found in the city. The basement still boasts the cells that once held prisoners awaiting their time in court, although today they house washrooms and wine cellars. How many people who eat in the lovely back garden know that Toronto's last public hanging occurred in that very courtyard? The building also has ties to Canadian culture, having served as an early home of The Arts & Letters Club of  Toronto during a key ten year period, which saw, among other things, the formation of the Group of Seven.

Inside Out Project

Location: East wall of the school near Broadview and Dundas

Date photo taken: 14 August 2019

Running down the entire eastern wall of this school on Dundas Street East is a double row of large black and white photographs. The portraits were facilitated by the Inside Out Project, a global program designed to engage people with art and their communities. 

High Strung

Location: King Street just west of Jarvis
Date photo taken: 13 August 2019

This fun and colourful new seating area on King Street is one of several new “parklets” that have popped up this summer along the King Street Transit Priority Corridor, which is the stretch of King between Bathurst and Jarvis. The parklets are installed in former parking spaces along the route, providing a place to sit and relax, and some are even programmed with activities and art. Chosen through a design competition held by the City, High Strung was designed and built by the landscape architecture team at Brook McIlroy.

P.S. The King Street pilot project is a pilot no longer. On April 16, 2019, City Council voted to make the changes permanent.

Black Creek Pioneer Village

Location: Black Creek Pioneer Village, near Steeles and Jane

Date photo taken: 22 September 2018

School may be out for summer but there's still lots to see and do at Black Creek Pioneer Village. This site, run by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, is a careful recreation of an Ontario town from the 1860s complete with all the buildings you'd expect, costumed interpreters and heritage breed animals. If that's not enough to tempt you, how about a haunted walk? Or some axe throwing? Or maybe some goat yoga with the cutest kids around? These are some of the special programming available through their Nightlife program.

If you just can't make it out to the Village but want to travel in back in time, all of the buildings and animals are profiled on the Black Creek website. 

Weston Mural

Location: Weston Road, just south of Lawrence

Date photo taken: 26 May 2019

This is one small section of a mural that extends almost 80 metres along the south side of the parking lot at the Weston GO and Union Pearson Express station. It was commissioned by the City’s StreetArt Program and the artists were chosen through a public art competition. While the mural doesn't exclusively focus on the history of Weston, this section features two items synonymous with Weston's manufacturing past. The Kodak factory purchased 25 acres of land at Eglinton Ave. W. and Weston Road in 1913 and proceeded to build seven buildings for its growing operations. This area would remain the home of Kodak's Canadian headquarters until 2005. The significance of the penny farthing is a bit more of a stretch. For over 65 years Weston was the home of the Canada Cycle & Motor Company, better known as CCM. While they did initially specialize in bicycles it is highly unlikely they ever produced penny farthings.