In 2011 sculptor Ken Lum completed his work: Across Time and Space, Two Children of Toronto Meet. The piece is located west off Bay Street and south of Dundas Street West, directly behind City Hall. It involves a long passageway from Bay Street to City Hall.
Two bronze sculptures placed on either end of this corridor represent historical immigrants to the area in the form of two children from different eras. The boy wears traditional Chinese clothing, closely related to the clothing worn during the Qing dynasty including the six paneled “Little Hat,” and the tunic with a mandarin collar and frog buttons which were popular during this period.
Pinned lettering in oxidized bronze separating the children reads: Across time and space, two children of Toronto meet…
The girl wears a simple collared, long sleeve dress with a bandana tying her hair.
The work calls the audience to think about the children’s divergent histories which have preceded their settling in Toronto. Specifically, the figure of the boy in traditional clothing is symbolic of the Chinese immigrant community through his cultural clothing. In contrast, the figure of the little girl in European dress, becomes a reminder of Canada’s white immigrant history, which has interacted directly with the Chinese immigrant history in the nation.
By facing the children toward one another, Lum uses his art to point towards a complicated web of national settler histories that converge and negotiate with one another, which has taken place in this very area of the downtown core.1
While working feverishly on my new site TO Utility Boxes (which is now complete by the way), I noticed a few utility boxes that could be grouped together thematically to portray Music and Dance in Toronto.
First, though, a shameless plug for my new site: TO Utility Boxes. If you’d like to take a look, it’s here.
With that out of the way, here are some Toronto utility boxes dedicated to music and dance in our city:
Jeff Healey Tribute
Utility box painted by artist Adrian Hayles, 2018 147 Tecumseth Street just south of Queen Street West
I had looked forward to photographing this box for some time. When I finally reached the site I was extremely disappointed to see the damage done by taggers and vandals since the piece was created in 2018.
The box artist comments on his work:
Jeff Healey is a profound member of our Rock and Roll Canadian history and his knowledge of jazz is unmatched. His part in the classic movie Road House will forever mar my memory. Jeff once owned a bar called “Healey’s” at the corner of Bathurst and Queen just a couple of blocks away from his freshly painted bell box. At first, like with most public projects, I was meet with very suspicious eyes as passers-by would question my reason for being there spraying. After about two hours, the piece started to take form and the compliments came pouring in.
Queen Street Vibe in the 80s
Utility box painted by artist Glen Guerin (aka Noxious), 2018 4 Markham Street, southwest corner of Markham Street and Willis Street
Ah yes, Carole Pope and Nash the Slash. So 80s, so Queen Street West back in the day. It was all about the look – shoulder pads, raccoon eyes and bandages.
The box artist comments on his work:
The theme given me was local musicians of the “Queen St. Days”. As a patron of the Gary’s Horseshoe days, then a regular on the “Queen St. scene of the 80’s” I thought of many, many artists I’d like to commemorate in a mural who inspired me as a young artist. Then it hit me, NASH THE SLASH! However, boxes are usually two panel, and who to compliment him, but his friend Carole Pope of Rough Trade. One guy in a car stopped and yelled out who they were, gave me a thumbs up and moved on. Another middle age woman with a thick accent told me she saw Rough Trade in Poland when she was younger (who knew?!). Others were curious and asked who they were and I explained the best I could. All in all, it was a fun and learning experience and I’d do it again any day.
Echo Beach, Far Away In Time
Utility Box painted by artist Julii McMillan, 2019 5 McCaul Street, northeast corner of Renfrew Place and McCaul Street
Continuing in an 80s Queen Street vibe, this box is an excellent tribute to Martha & The Muffins.
Gordon Lightfoot
Utility box painted by artist Adrian Hayles, 2021 6 Scollard Street, in the Frank Stollery Parkette
Gordon Lightfoot… a Canadian institution.
Tribute to Salome Bey, Canada’s Queen of the Blues
Utility box painted by Adrian Hayles, 2021 2 Grosvenor Street, northwest corner of Grosvenor Street and Yonge Street
Bell Box Murals comments on this box:
If the style looks familiar, this DJ/artist/muralist has done numerous murals in the City. In 2016, Adrian took 8 weeks to paint a 22 storey Downtown Yonge BIA music mural on the north wall of 423 Yonge Street, just south of College Street. The next year, he painted the south wall of the same building, continuing the musical theme. Adrian also painted a substantial mural on Reggae Lane in the Oakwood Avenue/Eglinton Avenue West area.
The Dance
Utility box painted by artist Keight MacLean, 2017 230 College Street, northeast corner of Huron and College Streets
The box artist comments on their work:
‘The Dance’ celebrates Toronto’s communities, past and present, as a literal dance. Everyone holding hands in a continuous circle around the box, jumping and dancing barefoot and smiling and laughing. Bright fluorescent splashes of colour weave in and out of the dancing group to further highlight how people come together in Toronto to form a unique tapestry.
Dancer
Utility box painted by artist Louise Reimer, 2017 542 College Street, northwest corner of College Street and Euclid Avenue
The box artist comments on their work:
The design is an homage to dancer. In our current world, where most people work at highly sedentary jobs, it is important to promote movement and an active lifestyle. Dance is not only exercise, but expressive, non competitive, and joyful. All cultures have some form of dance, which brings people together and allows for joy and expression. Contemporary dance is the result of a lot of work done by pioneering women, and especially queer people, and people of colour, which deserves to be honoured. These groups of people are all cultural producers in Toronto who still struggle for space and recognition within the art world.
Parkdale Social Club
Utility box painted by artist Cesar Rodriguez, 2017 2 O’Hara Avenue, northeast corner of O’Hara Avenue & Queen Street West
The box artist comments on their work:
‘Parkdale Social Club’ pays tribute to the history of vibrant music and arts communities in Parkdale. It was a great experience. I met many interesting people and met some friends who happened to live and work around the neighbourhood. Some people brought me gifts and others were interested in commission some of my work as well. I was not expecting that. Even a guy who seemed homeless said he had money and would love to get some of my art.
Piano Hands
Utility box painted by Jerry Silverberg, 2013 244 Bloor Street West, northeast corner of Bedford Road & Bloor Street West
Outside The Box comments on the work:
Jerry Silverberg’s box is located across from the Royal Conservatory of Music. He chose to depict hands playing piano to acknowledge the presence of the conservatory and create synergy between the two.
Sams + A&A Records
Artist and date unknown 189 Mutual Street, northeast corner of Mutual Street & Gerrard Street East
This box is a bit of a mystery; the only ID on the box is the artist’s email address: myyummyart@gmail.com. I appreciate the throwback touch, though, to when record stores at Yonge and Dundas ruled that stretch of Yonge Street.
Dream Ballet by Hamilton native Harley Valentine sits at the southeast corner of Yonge Street and Front Street East, outside Meridian Hall (formerly the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts). Installed in 2016, the three metal abstract sculptures are 5.4-metres (18 feet) high.
The three towering figures are abstract representations of dancers and pay homage to the Meridian Hall’s former tenants, the National Ballet of Canada. The sculptor has remarked that if kids want to skateboard around the pieces, that’s fine with him; Valentine views skateboarding as a type of dance, and dance as a form of kinetic sculpting,
Sculptor Harley Valentine, with a model of his installation “Dream Ballet”
Harley Valentine has public art installations in several places in the Toronto area — including the Barbarians at the Gate exhibition at Campbell House on Queen Street West, a sculpture park in Scarborough, a permanent piece outside Humber College and a temporary installation in the Yorkville area. He’s also bidding on other projects in Palm Desert, California, New York and Detroit.
A work entitled Cross Section, comprised of large bas-relief panels made from terra cotta, covers the walls of the underground passageway between Dundas subway station and the Atrium on Bay.
Installed in 1984, Cross Section was created by Canadian artist William McElcheran, For the installation, the terra cotta pieces were oven-fired in two-foot-square tiles prior to assembly.
William McElcheran conceived the Dundas subway stop as being a cross section of Toronto. It gave him an opportunity to sculpt and celebrate the increasing diversity of Toronto’s population.
You’ll notice in the work, the presence of the rotund business man in the trilby hat. The business man seems to be rushing somewhere in each panel, occasionally bumping into people, making them spill their parcels.
Artist William McElcheran (above, right) supervises the construction of his bas-relief art piece at Dundas subway station. In McElcheran’s words, “While the sculpture shows a busy cosmopolitan scene, it is also attempting to communicate the hopes carried in people’s hearts under their overcoats, and the dreams locked in their briefcases”. Photo taken for the Toronto Archives in April 1984.
“The Businessman” seems to be a recurring character in McElcheran’s works of art. His sculpture Businessman On A Horse, found in a small square at U of T’s St. Michael’s College, exemplifies this:
My earlier post for Businessman On a Horse can be found here if you’d like to check it out.
William McElcheran is also the sculptor of Untitled, found outside the Kelly Library, St. Michael’s College (U of T), 113 St. Joseph Street:
Click here if you’d like to read my post on Untitled.
Also true to McElcheran’s style and worthy of mention is his 1981 work Conversation, found on Stephen Avenue in downtown Calgary:
William McElcheran died in 1999, leaving behind an impressive legacy. In Toronto, he created two twenty foot high marble reliefs at WaterPark Place at the foot of Bay Street, and a monumental sculpture of Daedalus and Icarus for the head office of the DuPont Corporation in Mississauga. His piece entitled The Family in Guelph has been adopted as a symbol of that city.
Banksy is the pseudonym of a UK-based street artist, political activist and film director, whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, Banky’s satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humour with graffiti executed in a distinctive stencilling technique.
His works of political and social commentary have appeared on streets, walls and bridges throughout the world. Like Toronto’s own Elicser, Banksy’s art has a style which is instantly recognizable.
Here in Toronto we are fortunate to have his Guard with Balloon Dog (2010). It used to be on the exterior of what was formerly OPP headquarters in downtown Toronto. The building was torn down to make way for residential and commercial towers, but a section of the wall with the art was saved. Menkes, the company who redeveloped the site at One York Street, preserved the concrete slab and it now has a permanent home on the mezzanine level of One York Street.
There used to be 7 Banksy works scattered around Toronto, but several were destroyed or painted over. Now only two exist, including Guard With Balloon Dog.
Everything you could ever want to know about Banksy is located here.
Shooting “Guard with Balloon Dog” at One York Street
Here are some examples of Banksy’s work (disclaimer: only the first image is mine):
I came across this piece while I was visiting St. Austell in the UK. The work resides on a door beside the Cafe Tengo. If it’s not a genuine Banksy, it’s a great imitation.
Several of you will instantly recognize this very familiar site! Today we take a look at the Griffins (or Gryphons) guarding the main entrance of the Lillian H. Smith branch of the Toronto Public Library at 239 College Street.
The figures were designed and constructed by architect Philip H. Carter and sculptor Ludzer Vandermolen. The griffins took their permanent place beside the entrance when the branch opened in 1995.
Edgar and Judith
Each griffin weighs 3 tonnes or 3000 kilograms and took about 1.5 years to make. Small clay models were approved by the Library Board, then enlarged and cast in fibreglass and wax before being sent to the foundry. Since they are so big, they were cast in different sections – about 12 parts for each statue. The bronze finisher was Vince Graham.1
The griffins have their own identity and heritage: the lion is Edgar (east side of door) and the eagle is named Judith. If you study the griffins for a while you will soon see various little animals embedded into each main figure.
Judith
Judith resides on the west side of the library’s main door. It is named for the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy.
Edgar
Edgar guards the east side of the library’s main door. He is named after the benefactor of the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books.
Near the griffins, but not part of them, is this owl. Prior to taking up residence at Lillian H. Smith branch it was situated at the entrance of the old Boys and Girls House library on St. George Street.
If you’d like to read about the history of Lillian H. Smith and the Toronto Public Library in general, here are a couple of interesting articles:
Hello everyone and welcome back to TOcityscapes after my little hiatus!
Having recently passed through Toronto’s Pearson Airport on an international trip, I had an opportunity to view and photograph this sculpture up close. Given that, I thought a post on this piece would be appropriate.
This work is called Tilted Spheres, created by the artist Richard Serra. It resides at Pearson International Airport in the International Departures area, Terminal 1, and was installed in 2004.
The sculpture is past the security gates, so only international travellers boarding at gates in Pier F will see it and be able to walk among its four sections. It’s so big and heavy that it was laid into the floor when the terminal was under construction, then the walls and ceiling were built around it.
Its sheer size and scope, at 120 tonnes, makes it unmissable. The curved walls create an echo effect that is endlessly tested by intrigued adults and children, thousands of whom pass, and touch, the installation every day.
Whenever I see this work in person I always become enthused; given it’s in the international departures area I identity it with imminent travel, fun and intrigue.
The Loch Gallery at 16 Hazelton Avenue in Yorkville usually has amusing artwork out front of the gallery, which change on an occasional basis. I haven’t been past the gallery in a while, but here is a sampling from my last visit:
Coming home last night I spied this new mural on the northeast corner of Gloucester Street and Church Street. Very fitting, I thought, as we’re one week away from Pride:
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 Powerhere). 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.
I came upon this by accident with a friend when it was under construction. At the time we said we…