Toronto Police Marine Unit

Location: Toronto Islands

Date photo taken: 12 July 2018

This is one of nine different types of watercraft employed by Toronto's police force. Being situated on a lake, it should come as no surprise that Toronto has a marine unit. What I did find surprising is the size of the unit and the scope of their responsibilities. It's part of the Specialized Emergency Response at TPS and along with Sergeants, Constables, and a Staff Sergeant, it also has 10 divers, three mechanics and a cat named Porter. Its area of coverage is larger than the city itself because it has jurisdiction on the lake, stretching out from the city all the way to the border of the United States. Plus it's responsible for all the waterways within Toronto, including rivers, ponds, and reservoirs. The divers also work in the sewers. The main station is located on Queens Quay and there are three sub-stations - one in Scarborough at Bluffers Park, one on Centre Island and at the Humber River.

Traffic Signal Box - Birds

 

Location: Moore Avenue at Mount Pleasant

Date photo taken: 21 June 2023

Image #19 in the Traffic Signal Box Series

Here's another signal box brought to life by the City's Outside the Box program. It was painted in 2022 by Erin McCluskey, her third signal box for the program, although her work can also be found on Bell boxes, construction hoardings and other projects around the city.  

Two Circles

Location: Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower

Date photo taken: 11 July 2023

While grand in scale, Two Circles is a seemingly simple installation at the Bay Adelaide Centre. As the name implies, it is comprised of two circles, identical in size and placement on the wall. The circle at the south end of the lobby is solid black, the one on the north, just an outline. Interesting enough, but it's when you get close to the work that you realize there is so much more to it. Which is where this photo comes in. The walls, which look smooth and unremarkable from a distance, are actually comprised of over 800,000 small ceramic sticks, each of which has been broken near the mid-point. That break line is visible and forms "a line drawing that is reminiscent of heartbeats, stock market graphs and sound waves", all very apt for the location of this piece, in the heart of the city's financial core.

Petro Canada full service booth

 

Location: Bayview & Moore

Date photo taken: 6 November 2022

I love finding retro elements across the city, remnants of history and earlier design aesthetics. Which is what I thought I'd found at this gas station on Bayview. It turns out that what I took to be a 50s or 60s era service booth was one actually installed in 2013 when the gas pumps were upgraded. Perhaps the styling is deliberately retro, a nod to the heyday of the full service gas station, which is itself a bit of an anachronism.

You're like, really pretty

 

Location: Distillery District

Date photo taken: 19 June 2023

Over the last few years, bit by bit, the nighttime city has been getting brighter and more colourful thanks to a proliferation of neon-style LED signs. Once a more rarified being, neon signs used to be a beacon for those looking for the it place to be, but the new technology makes them decidedly more attainable and as a result, much more common. Now you're as likely to see one at your local coffee shop or ice cream parlour as you are at the latest hot spot. This one is outside Miss J Lash Lounge in the Distillery.

Ship in a bottle

 

Location: Marie Curtis Park

Date photo taken: 5 September 2021

There's a small building tucked away in a corner of Marie Curtis Park, near the Lake Promenade entrance. Once upon a time it probably blended into the scenery, but now its hard to miss thanks to four large, vibrant murals created by local graffiti artist Luvsumone in 2016. All four images draw inspiration from the lakeside location and I just love the twist put on this one. For me, the dark silhouette of the ship is almost ominous, but then the colours pull me back to happy.

Careful Infrastructures for Reassembled Lands (No.2)

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Location: Waterfront promenade

Date photo taken: 22 October 2022

In 2022 Waterfront Toronto and the Waterfront BIA announced the appointment of Lisa Hirmer as their new artist-in-residence. Her mandate was to "create meaningful, experiential encounters with the community, activate underutilized spaces along the lakefront, and draw new audiences to the waterfront." One theme of the residency was climate change. Hirmer took the opportunity to collaborate with writers to create a sign project for the waterfront promenade and this is one of the resulting pieces. This particular text is by Sangamithra Iyer and it was fabriated by Ocel Metal Fabrication.