Month: April 2023 (Page 1 of 2)

Elmsley Place Mansions

April 30, 2023 / Marvin Job / 3 Comments

A private road north of St. Joseph Street, west of Bay Street, is home to red brick Edwardian style mansions that were built in 1892 by Remigius Elmsley as the first subdivisions in the City, located on the former family home, Cloverhill Estate.

The heritage properties are owned by University of Toronto, St. Michael’s College, some serving as student residences. The four houses of residence collectively contain 20 single and 12 double rooms. The buildings underwent a $4 million renovation in 2007.

The remaining houses are used as administrative offices: Founders House (1 Elmsley); Phelan House (3 Elmsley); and Windle House (5 Elmsley).

Developed during the 1890s, Elmsley Place attracted professionals and politicians, including Sir George W. Ross, who lived at No. 1 Elmsley while serving as Ontario’s premier. After the Supreme Court of Canada presided over the extension of present-day Bay Street northward during the 1920s, the college purchased the title to the street. By the late 1940s, the laneway was closed off and the Edwardian-style homes were converted to offices and student residences. Today, cut off from traffic, this tree-lined cobblestone lane is a perfect walk into the heart of the St. Mike’s campus.

**The Gates of Elmsley Place**
A gateway across from the John M. Kelly Library on St. Joseph Street marks the entrance to Elmsley Place, a laneway that was once a prestigious late-Victorian subdivision. The Elmsley family were major 19th-century landowners whose holdings included what became the original campus of St. Michael’s College and the current Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood.

**Founders House, 1 Elmsley Place**
Formerly known as the Sir George Ross House. Sir George Ross was, at various times, a professor, member of parliament, senator, provincial Minister of Education, premier of Ontario, and president of the Canadian Authors’ Society.

**McCorkell House, 2 Elmsley Place**
McCorkell House operates as furnished female student dormitories

**Phelan House, 3 Elmsley Place**
Phelan House was originally called the William E. Chalcraft House

**Windle House, 5 Elmsley Place**
Previously known as the H. Hartley Dewart House. The late H. H. Dewart was a former provincial Liberal leader.

**Brennan Hall, South Entrance**
The Hall is situated on the north end of Elmsley Place, 81A St. Mary Street

**Maritain House, 6 Elmsley Place**
This house contains furnished male student dormitories

**Gilson House, 8 Elmsley Place**
This is the only home on the street which St. Michael’s College does not own.

Cherry Blossoms

April 28, 2023 / Marvin Job / 2 Comments

Well, early spring in Toronto could only mean one thing – time for the Cherry Blossoms to pop. This spring I didn’t have the time or fortitude to fight the crowds out at High Park, so I’ve posted my shots from a visit a couple of years ago.

Cherry blossom trees are located in several parks and locations throughout Toronto. There, you can take part in the centuries-old tradition of hanami, the Japanese term for flower viewing. Called Sakura in Japan, these cherry blossom trees bloom in Toronto at the end of April to early May.

History of Cherry Trees in High Park¹

1959 – The Japanese ambassador to Canada, Toru-Hagiwara, presented 2000 Japanese Somei-Yoshino Sakura trees to the citizens of Toronto on behalf of the citizens of Tokyo. The trees were planted in appreciation of Toronto accepting re-located Japanese-Canadians following the Second World War. Many were planted on the hillside overlooking Grenadier Pond.

1984 – A grove of Japanese cherry trees were planted along a pathway west of the Children’s Adventure Playground. The trees were donated by Yoriki and Midori Iwasaki as a special gift to the people of Toronto and a joyful symbol of life.

2001 – Through the Consulate General of Japan in Toronto’s Sakura Project, 34 Yoshino ‘Akebono’ and Kwanzan ‘Fugenzo’ Sakura trees were donated and planted on the east shore of Grenadier Pond near the Maple Leaf garden.

2006 – Sixteen additional Yoshino Sakura trees were planted near the original 1959 planting site.

2019 – New trees planted in a special ceremony to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Sakura trees donated to High Park in 1959 by the citizens of Tokyo

¹ Courtesy of the City of Toronto website

“No Shoes”

April 21, 2023 / Marvin Job / 3 Comments

I don’t often say this about sculptures or artwork I come across in the city, but this one leaves me cold and uninspired. Created by artist Mark di Suvero, this piece is entitled No Shoes and is located in Corktown Common in the Canary District.

The work does have quite a history. No Shoes was commissioned for the International Sculpture Symposium in Toronto in 1967. That year, Mark di Suvero was a rising star in the international art scene. He was part of a group of artists invited to participate in the Toronto International Sculpture Symposium – an event held to celebrate Canada’s centennial. He created two sculptures in High Park: No Shoes, situated by the woods at the bottom of a hill and the towering Flower Power, which rested at the top of the same hill (you can check out my earlier post on Flower Power here). After a lengthy 2012 restoration overseen by di Suvero himself, No Shoes was moved to Corktown Common in June 2013.

If you’re interested, there is an extensive article here on Mark Di Suvero and the creation, history and rejuvenation of No Shoes.

Leslieville’s Crazy Doll House

April 17, 2023 / Marvin Job / 4 Comments

This one has been on my shot list for quite some time, and I finally got around to photographing it. This visual assault on the senses is known as Leslieville’s Crazy Doll House and has been quite the neighbourhood attraction; it’s one of those things you kind of have to see to believe.

The Doll House is located at 37 Bertmount Avenue, near Queen Street East and Jones Avenue:

The house is owned by one Shirley Sumaiser, who has been collecting stuffed and plastic critters for over twenty years and using them to fill up her front yard.

I stood speechless for some time before I started snapping some shots. It’s almost overwhelming taking in the sheer details of this assault on the visual senses:

The Doll House is not just dolls—there are toys, stuffed animals, plaques, and signs, some hung from the fence, some mounted on wooden stakes, and some lining the porch and eaves.

Apparently owner Shirley Sumaiser’s passion for collecting objects began after her husband passed away. Twenty years later her Doll House is still a beacon in the Leslieville neighborhood.

I’ve read that the collection is often redone or circulated to suit a holiday or a set of new or seasonal additions. The result is an ever-changing garden of tchotchkes that attracts tourists and gawkers (like me) alike.

“Cracked Wheat”

April 16, 2023 / Marvin Job / 2 Comments

Sitting in front of the Gardiner Museum at 111 Queen’s Park is a curious ceramic and bronze sculpture entitled Cracked Wheat. Created by artist Shary Boyle in 2018, this quirky and cracked flask-shaped vase stands tenuously on two little gold legs.

The gold cracks serve as an homage to the 16th century Japanese tradition of Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. The tradition celebrates breakage and repair as part of an object’s history. This detail is a tribute to the Kintsugi collection at the Gardiner Museum, a place that is known for showcasing craftsmanship and quality from all over the world, in addition to commenting on colonialism and object valuation.

In contrast, the Canadian Wheat pattern on the front of the vase is a nod to mass-produced tableware designs that were made popular in the 1960s, work that would not likely be on display at the Gardiner Museum. Here, Shary Boyle has aspired to create a work that speaks to the universality of ceramics and show us what they can teach us about our history.¹

¹ Buzz Buzz Home

Street Art by Niyi Adeogun

April 13, 2023 / Marvin Job / 1 Comment

I came across these last weekend, painted on the side of a building on the northwest corner of Bay Street and Adelaide Street West. Quite good, I think.

According to the bio on the right of the image, the creator is Niyi Adeogun, an interdisciplinary artist, design engineer and creative entrepreneur. He has a passion for art and innovation and continually explores how integrating both can improve people’s daily interactions with the world around them. He founded and leads a creative agency called ZeroResistance studios. His website can be found here.

“Dreaming”

April 12, 2023 / Marvin Job / 3 Comments

Installed in 2020, Dreaming is a fairly new creation residing at the Richmond-Adelaide Centre, 100 Adelaide Street West. Spanish artist Jaume Plensa is known for creating large-scale public art installations in major cities, including New York, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and now Toronto.

Dreaming is 3 storeys high and was commissioned by the Oxford Properties Group Inc. in 2016. The artwork alters the area’s streetscape and anchors a reimagined public plaza called The Terrace at Oxford’s Richmond-Adelaide Centre. The piece is a cast stone portrait created with white marble and resin, installed on top of a base that serves as a public bench to encourage the public to enjoy the outdoor public space.

This portrait of a young girl with her eyes closed in quiet contemplation was created with the intention of passersby looking inward. Plensa’s vision is for the art to act as a metaphor for humanity’s dreams for the future and for a shared human experience; a concept needed now more than ever before.

As you circle the piece, an optical sensation occurs and the effect messes with your mind and visual senses. Seen from the viewer’s left, the work’s proportions and dimension seem as they should be. As you circle around your right side Dreaming seems to suddenly narrow and it becomes evident how flat the work is in actuality. Viewed directly from the back, Dreaming appears as a small sliver of material.

Here is a short video of the artist speaking about his vision and creation of Dreaming, and the efforts to install the work in the Richmond-Adelaide Centre:

Click here if you’d like to visit the artist’s web page.

Identity Crisis

April 10, 2023 / Marvin Job / 1 Comment

I discovered this poster on a utility box outside of Ryerson… errrrr… excuse me, Toronto Metropolitan University, and couldn’t decide who it is.

I’ll put it to a vote and you can decide. Is this:

The votes are in… survey sez: Nicholas Cage!

“Lovebot”

April 9, 2023 / Marvin Job / 0 Comments

This mural is entitled Lovebot, by artist Mathew Del Degan. It’s located on Mutual Street, just below Dundas Street East, on the side of the Purple Haze cannabis shop.

The panel on the side of the mural reads:

Lovebot lovingly disrupts our robotic routines to remind us that there is love in our cities and kindness around every corner. Lovebot reiterates the fact that we all have the privilege of being human, and that we are not restricted to the algorithms and programming of our tech driven counterparts. Even though many of us work like robots in concrete jungles, we all have capacity to share love and kindness with one another each day.

I painted this mural for my son and for all that enjoy it – Lovebot

I found a little more on the artist and his project courtesy of Wikipedia:

The Lovebot character was created by Toronto artist and designer Matthew Del Degan,consisting of a geometric, faceless robot with a red heart logo (called the “hero heart”) on its torso. The character is used as a symbol for the “Love Invasion,” a movement that aims to share love and kindness globally. He invented the idea for the campaign and character after moving to Toronto and noting the uninspired actions of city subway passengers and realizing he personally felt that people needed to express more compassion.

Del Degan chose to add the heart to the robot’s design to signify that people of the city have ability to love and be kind to one another. He decided to use concrete as the Lovebot’s artistic medium, which he felt referenced Toronto’s urban architecture and history.

The campaign was initially created as a street sticker art campaign but Del Degan and his team eventually chose to also create more than 100, 2 foot concrete statues, each weighing 200 pounds which they placed throughout Toronto. Each robot sculpture was made by hand in his backyard with over 30 volunteers. Each robot is now dedicated to a person who has made a difference in some way and is intended to inspire others into performing additional acts of kindness. In 2013 the campaign took off with a great deal of press coverage, like the Toronto Star, MTV and The Grid (which gave Del Degan a Mensch Award for his work with the Lovebot character and named him one of fifty individuals that had “made Toronto a better place this year”).

Lovebot is now a brand owned and operated by Matthew Del Degan. Together the company offers Lovebot merchandise and a toy design that was crowd funded through Kickstarter. In addition, the Lovebot continues to be a vital part of Del Degan’s artistic practice in street art and design. Those volunteering for Lovebot continue to work together under the name “The Lovebot Leaders.” The group has doubled since its conception has plans for global outreach. The Lovebot Leaders also emphasize work with charitable initiatives while continuing to build and distribute Lovebot sculptures.

If you’re interested in learning more about the artist Mathew Del Degan and his Lovebot project, click here.

Good Friday Procession

April 7, 2023 / Marvin Job / 3 Comments

The annual Good Friday Procession is a Toronto tradition which has been held every Good Friday for the last 70 years. After three dormant years due to COVID-19 the Procession, which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, has returned to take over the streets of Toronto’s Little Italy on Good Friday.

The Good Friday Procession starts on Good Friday at 3 PM at St. Francis of Assisi Church (Mansfield Ave & Grace St), and goes through the Little Italy neighbourhood, before circling back to the church. The Procession includes religious statues, bands and people representing different characters associated with the Passion of Christ.

The Good Friday Procession follows this route:

Assembling The Procession

I’ve attended the Good Friday Procession once, in 2018, to photograph the spectacle. The most interesting shots are the ones in which the participants assemble at St. Francis of Assisi Church prior to the actual procession through Little Italy: