This monument was created by Canadian author and visual artist Douglas Coupland after being commissioned by Malibu Investments, the company which built the condo behind the sculpture. The toy soldiers characterize the combatants in the War of 1812, in which the United States attacked Canada – then a British colony – to remove it from British rule and expand our country into the U.S.
The gold soldier representing Canada stands, while the silver American soldier lies fallen.
The standing gold soldier is wearing the 1813 Royal Newfoundland Regiment uniform, while the silver soldier, lying down, wears the 16th United States Infantry Regiment uniform.
The plaque at the base of the piece summarizes the relevance of the sculpture:
Two abandoned toy soldiers pay tribute to Toronto’s history in this artwork. Without Fort York there would have been no Canada – the British would have lost Canada to the Americans in the War of 1812, and Canada would have been absorbed into the United States.
Commissioned by Malibu Investments and unveiled by Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone, November 2008
The Monument To The War Of 1812 is located at the intersection of Lakeshore Blvd. West and Fleet Street, just south of the Fort York National Historic Site. Fort York is home to Canadaโs largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings.
The artist, Douglas Coupland, talks about the monument in the video below:
For the last couple of years I’ve walked past this sculpture thinking, “What the …?”, but it all made sense once I learned the backstory of the piece.
This sculpture is called Primrose, and was created by Canadian artist Myfanwy MacLeod. Primrose is located in Clover Hill Park, at the entrance to U of T’s St. Michael’s College (Bay Street and St. Joseph Street). The work is based on an actual baby donkey named Primrose who was born prematurely in 2012 at the Bind Equine Veterinary Practice in Shropshire, England. Primrose’s underdeveloped bones would have led to permanently bowed legs, so local vets put some custom pink casts on her to straighten them out. It took about three weeks for the foal to start walking on her own, but not before she had captured hearts worldwide as the “wonky donkey” from England.
The artist, Myfanwy MacLeod, is known for other large animal sculptures in Canada, most notably the pair of giant sparrows, titled The Birds, in the 2010 Olympic Village in Vancouver.
The head office for Toronto Hydro is located at 14 Carlton Street in downtown Toronto. This wonderful Art Deco building was designed by architects Chapman and Oxley, and completed in 1931. The building is constructed of steel and concrete and faced with Queenston limestone.
Behind the building, in the area bounded by Wood Street and Reverend Porter Lane, there is a parking lot for the Toronto Hydro staff. This is no ordinary parking lot – it has a very unique feature: a black stainless steel fence surrounds the lot and commemorates Toronto Hydro’s history with vignettes from the past 100 years. Featuring stylized photography and plaques, the fence was installed in 2016 and highlights important projects for Toronto such as the completion of the CN Tower and the installation of the urban wind turbine on the Exhibition grounds. As far as I could see during my visit, the fence’s timeline begins in 1910 and ends in 2015. Sometimes when I pass by here I’ll stop to read the interesting historical vignettes on the fence. It’s a great addition to the neighbourhood.
For years I’ve seen the sculptures around the Toronto Police Headquarters at 40 College Street, but have never really stopped to pay close attention to them – until now. I’ve wanted to photograph the sculptures for quite some time – which I’ve finally done today – and post the shots. Posting these shots led me to investigate the works a bit more. As I discovered, the sculptures have an interesting purpose and back-story; looking at them with what I now know enriches the experience, and I understand why they exist.
The sculptures around the Police Headquarters are called To Serve And Protect – the motto of the Toronto Police Force – and were created by Toronto sculptor Eldon Garnet. Unveiled in 1988, the sculptures are a three-part installation with a theme.
[Note: The following commentary and explanation from Eldon Garnet has been sourced from the website Artworx TO.]
Sculpture 1
“This is the central element where all the figures are moving towards. In this location you will see a stepped up pyramid type of device on which there is nothing. The plinth is empty. You will see a bronze representation of a police woman. This is very much an allegorical figure. This is not really a police woman, this is a police man. This is all police. She is stepping on the pyramid type of device and she is building it. She has a trowel in her right hand and in her left hand she has a walkie-talkie. And she has a gun on her left side which is holstered, but it’s a closed holster which is very symbolic. And allegorical. It’s not a gun ready for action; it’s much more suppressed and to be used under consideration, not like the westerner with the gun at his side ready to be drawn. And she also has a baton on her right hip. And that again is another mode of enforcement but again on her hip. And the walkie-talkie on her hand obviously is about communication and talking, that’s what it’s about. And she’s in the process of building. That’s very important that this police woman is not just on guard, but she’s constructing. Constructing what?”
Sculpture 2 – “Little Glenn”
“This boy is pulling an obelisk on a wagon. You can pat his head, you see it’s becoming a little shiny from people patting this gentle boy’s head. He’s pulling an oversized obelisk on an oversized wagon. And he’s just a young boy, just a young child. He’s not a boy or a girl, he’s not white or is he black or Asian, he’s an allegorical figure of a young person pulling an oversized load. And on this wagon is this 20 foot granite obelisk. What does the obelisk represent? The obelisk has a long history of symbolic meaning. And it has first and foremost a symbol of power. It was used by ancient Egyptians to signify their strength and their markers to the entrance to the grand buildings. And it also has a long history of being stolen. It is not uncommon that all these Egyptian obelisks have been removed from Egypt mostly to museums or in front of other buildings. And so there’s this notion of theft involved in an obelisk also, and power. Why is he pulling this? Where is he pulling it? These are questions you should ask yourself. What about the police woman in the central square? The plinth is empty waiting for something. Could it be this obelisk that this boy is pulling towards her?”
Located at the southeast corner of Bay and Grenville Streets, “Little Glenn” is pulling a 22-foot-tall stone obelisk in a four-wheeled cart. On the obelisk are carved the words “To Serve And Protect”, the motto of the Toronto police force.
Sculpture 3
“This is the Everyman. The Everyman is carrying a wooden support on his shoulders which is bronze in this rendering, two bricks and two large oversized books. He’s obviously a representation of justice and equality, and he’s walking, he’s in motion. What are these objects on his shoulder? The books? The books of the law of course, the books of knowledge, the books of engineering. And on his other shoulder are two granite blocks. These two granite blocks are what is missing from the sculpture on the other side of the building. He walks right through the building, past the desk and out the east doors, and will confront the policewoman who is building a base. This man, this Everyman, is also involved in building a base for a sculpture which is to arrive [the obelisk from Little Glenn]. He is the future. He again is an allegorical figure and is part of the construction of the positive nature of building something for the future.”
Artist’s Conclusion
“What I’m asking in this 3 part sculpture is that all 3 components are working together to build, to build something which is a monument but is an incomplete monument which deals with power, knowledge, authority, all the elements that are embodied in the notion of policing. And what I always wanted was the notion that the police were never finished the task of doing what they had to do, that it is much of a community activity, that it has to take place with all these people working together to build something.”
After living in Toronto all these years I admit I’ve never been to one of the Nuit Blanche events… until now. This past weekend I took in just a few installations of this massive event – it was great! So many gifted and talented artists. Here’s a synopsis of the few installations I attended.
As with many of my posts, shots from the entire event can be found on my Flickr page (link at bottom of post).
Saputiit โ Fish Weir Skate Plaza Yonge-Dundas Square
Saputiit โ Fish Weir Skate Plaza transformed Yonge-Dundas Square into an Indigenous space for skateboarders to flip and manipulate their boards.
Indigenous singers perform while skateboarders do their thingIndigenous art on the big screens
Shapeshifter Yonge Street Below Dundas
Shapeshifter is a series of sculptural works that expands the investigation into folklore, history, personal mythology, and how identity constantly fluctuates.
An Occupation Queen Street West, Outside Saks Fifth Avenue
An Occupation is a participatory performance involving backup dancers, a giant inflatable, and karaoke celebrating the themes of Occupation/Labour/Work.
Good Tonight, Good Tomorrow with Johnnie Walker & NoPattern Outside City Hall, Queen Street West
The installation by fine artist NoPattern in collaboration with Johnnie Walker is an exploration of pace. Colours travel around the screens at a slow and purposeful speed. There is a beautiful restraint in the movement that encourages viewers to come together and take a second to appreciate this moment of clarity.
Creepy Old Guy On Steps Old City Hall, Queen Street West
I couldn’t find any description from Nuit Blanche on this performer, but he seemed to be enjoying what he was doing.
iskocฤs: okihcitฤw-iskwฤw-kamik ohci (sparks/embers for the leading-woman-lodge) Nathan Phillips Square
Beams of light converged at Nathan Philips Square to create the illusion of a luminous tipi. Under its glowing poles, artist Cheryl L’Hirondelle hosted 13 performances by musicians, poets, Indigenous knowledge keepers and other invited guests.
Untying Space 8 Adelaide Street West
Made with masking tape and adhesive vinyl, this abstract whorl envelops the Deloitte building at Bay and Adelaide.
Avataq Yonge & Temperance Streets
This 30-foot silver balloon bobbed around at the intersection of Yonge and Temperance Streets. The work is in reference to a traditional Inuit hunting tool, a lure that’s usually made of sealskin.
The Dinner Table Yonge and Adelaide Streets
An outlet and valuable source of social recovery, The Dinner Table explores collective celebration in a city with a thirst to rebuild connections and renew social identity. Participants showered the table with coloured (non-toxic, biodegradable) dust in a dynamic celebration to mark the many gatherings sacrificed over the last two years.
Yonge & Front Streets
Not sure what this installation was called, but the man was getting a selfie of himself and his dog.
CN Tower Projections
Transformed through video animations by three unique artists, the CN Tower acts as a beacon. Created by Indigenous artists Blackpowerbarbie, Caroline Monnet and Kereama Taepa.
Avataq Yonge & Front Streets
A smaller version of the Avataq installation that was floating further up Yonge Street.
Blankets (Under) Cover 25 Queens Quay West, Harbour Square Park
By artist Shelley Niro, Brantford/Six Nations of Grand River. These stretched point blankets, imprinted with images of past Indigenous life, as well as contemporary Indigenous experience, ask the viewer to reflect on the histories embedded in these objects.
Mana Moana 25 Queens Quay West
Mana Moana is an artist-led collaboration between Mฤori and Pacifica visual artists, musicians, writers and choreographers to bring to life video through a water screen.
Cow sculptures in the TD Centre Courtyard. The Pasture features seven life-sized cows relaxing in the grass. The cows are made of brass, and were put in place in 1985 at the TD Waterhouse Tower just across the street from its current location at 77 King Street West. The sculptures have been moved between these locations numerous times over the years due to construction at the different properties.
Sherbourne Street, a depressing street at the best of times, is not normally known for its murals and/or artistic sensibility. I don’t how long they’ve been there but I recently discovered four new (to me) murals that appeared since I was last down this street.
“Everything You Can Imagine Is Real” Quote from Pablo Picasso, on side of building at 194 Sherbourne Street“Dare To Dream” On side of building at 192 Sherbourne StreetBy Artists Birdo+Tenso On side of building at 194 Sherbourne StreetMural At 188 Sherbourne Street By En Masse. En Masse is a multi-artist collaborative drawing project who create bold black-and-white works of public art.
The Waterfront Business Improvement Area (BIA) in collaboration with MASSIVart presents Alpha Bravo Charlie, a site-specific temporary art installation conceived by Toronto-based designers Coryn Kempster and Julia Jamrozik (www.ck-jj.com). This public space installation is part of the Waterfront’s BIA‘s “Waterfront Public Life Pilot” project that aims to find creative ways to animate, enhance, and beautify public spaces along the waterfront for the community and visitors to enjoy.
“Alpha Bravo Charlie” brings 15 decks to the Water’s Edge Promenade. The project takes the nautical alphabet as a point of inspiration, interpreting and transforming each of the international maritime signal flags into three-dimensional, occupiable decks. The decks are activated through leisure, games and educational opportunities. Together they form a social infrastructure creating opportunities for connections between people and providing opportunities to linger and play.
Situated at the Strachan Gate entrance to The Bentway, Memory Work is a mural made up of twelve embellished photographic portraits of revolutionary women and non-binary figures from a future Toronto. Memory Work is a monument that commemorates a speculative world. The people depicted in these portraits belong to a group known as the Mothers of Invention, abbreviated as MOI, and pronounced like the sound of a kiss. They are a group of revolutionary scientists, healers, creators, entrepreneurs, engineers, and organizers, represented in photographs taken by Omii Thompson of Mecha Clarke, Jennifer Maramba, Xiyao (Miranda) Shou, Zanette Singh, Cheyenne Sundance, and Dori Tunstall.
The word hidden is often overused but in this case it feels apt. This large space is quite pretty and…