For some time I had heard the buzz about the Aga Khan Museum in Don Mills at 77 Wynford Drive, and decided to check it out one sunny afternoon. For those not familiar with it, the Aga Khan is a Toronto museum of Islamic and Iranian art and Muslim culture.
The minimalist-style formal gardens and surrounding park are quite calming and serene:
The Aga Khan Museum was opened to the public on September 18, 2014 and houses approximately 1,200 rare objects assembled by His Highness the Aga Khan and Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan.
According to the blurb on Wikipedia, the Aga Khan Museum was recognized as one of the best museums in Toronto by Condé Nast Traveler in 2018.
Curves…… and lots of sharp angles
The Interior Courtyard
The interior courtyard of the museum is surrounded by glass walls imprinted with patterns resembling traditional Islamic Jali (lattice) screens:
“In a personal letter to architect Fumihiko Maki, His Highness the Aga Khan suggested the Museum be designed around the concept of light. Light, His Highness noted, has been an enduring inspiration for the world’s religions and civilizations since earliest times. Maki responded with a design that invites direct and diffuse light into the building in ingenious ways. The building is positioned 45 degrees to solar north to ensure that all exterior surfaces receive natural light over the course of the day. Angular walls of white Brazilian granite, a material chosen for its resilience and luminosity, enhance the play of light across building surfaces.” – AKDN Website
The Ismaili Centre
The second building on the site, The Ismaili Centre, is a religious, social and spiritual building for the Ismaili Community. Designed by architect Charles Correa, the building is oriented toward Mecca.
Crashing A Wedding Photo Shoot
During my visit I also happened upon a wedding photography session that was going on…
On The Way Out…
Leaving the grounds I noticed this unusual piece. Unveiled in 2016, the bronze piece is called “Horizontal Lovers” by Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli.
Walking home last night I happened upon this event on Wellesley Street East. It was Pumpkins In The Park, at the Paul Kane House Parkette, from 4:00-7:30PM. The sun was dropping fast as I took these shots.
The sign at the entrance said: “Pumpkins provided, just bring your imagination!” – and many people did. The turnout was great and it was a hugely successful event. Kudos to the organizers!
These mural shots are from a wall behind the buildings on Bloor Street West at Bathurst Street. When you exit the Bathurst subway station you will see these murals on your left, at least you could when I took these images a while ago. There’s a chance these murals may have since changed on this wall, so it’s soon time for a revisit to investigate.
I couldn’t find anything on the web regarding the history or backstories of these murals, but I think they’re fairly impressive.
Time For Tims: Mural behind the CIBC at 532 Bloor St. W. (Bloor & Bathurst)
This painting, on the side of a building behind Yonge Street, near Grenville Street, was unveiled in 2010. The unassuming alley is the final stop on the journey taken by hearses carrying the remains of fallen Canadian soldiers from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to the coroner’s office on Grenville Street.
In September 2013 the mural was seriously vandalized, totally ruined with spray paint. The original artwork featured a dove, wings spread wide, over a field of poppies. The original artists returned to the scene, though, and began to completely redo the mural. They first primed the defaced wall by painting it black, then set to work with a new design that echoed the imagery of the original mural.
“Highway of Heroes” mural in St. Luke Lane, off Grenville Street, behind Yonge
This new rendering features two doves, a Canadian flag and the silhouette of a soldier set against a luminous sky, which graffiti artist Jessey Pacho describes as “a very serene, heavenly cloud feeling.” Artist Kedre Brow also contributed to the recreation of the mural.
Hopefully this one will stay intact. It hasn’t been defaced since 2013, so fingers crossed. Suggestion to the store in this laneway: it would be *much* nicer and more respectful if the dumpster were removed… I’m just sayin’.
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 Canada’s 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.
Nestled in the Don Valley, north of the Evergreen/Don Valley Brick Works, is Crothers Woods. I had been aware of Crothers Woods for some time but never been there until this past weekend. I had read it was a good place to photograph some fall colours so off I went with camera in hand. Talk about an entrance being hard to find, but that’s another story for another day (it took me over an hour just to find the flipping entrance – thanks a lot for the misdirection, Google Maps!).
I didn’t realize the Woods covered such a broad expanse, and I admit to getting slightly lost while there. I really only saw a small portion of what the Woods have to offer so, at some point, I plan to make a return visit to see the rest.
You want nature trails? Crothers Woods has around 10km of them, along with a diverse bird population and some vantage points offering a spectacular view of the Toronto skyline. The Woods has about 9 km of multi-use dirt trails, with the most popular trails being the Sun Valley Trail (1.3 km), and the Cottonwood Flats Trail (0.7 km). Both trails have a granular surface and are classified as multi-purpose beginner trails. Not being a hiking fanatic (I like concrete under my feed, thank you), I have yet to try these trails.
At the entrance to the woodsOn the paths down to the woodsHiking through the leaves on the way down to the woodsCity viewOn the path leading out of the woods
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.”
On the northeast corner of University Avenue and College Street, you will find the Ontario Fire Fighter Memorial. The memorial is a tribute to the 344 fallen fire fighters who have sacrificed their lives while protecting lives, property and the environment throughout Ontario
The memorial was dedicated on June 5, 2005. The base of the memorial is a red Maltese Cross, an international symbol for firefighting. The bronze sculpture shows a fire fighter rescuing a child from danger. The black granite monolith behind them represents a building. The name, rank, and date of death of Ontario’s 344 fallen fire fighters appear on the surrounding granite walls.
My images are in black and white as I was shooting that day with the Fujifilm film simulation Classic Monochrome.
Yes I've seen these sculptures and have enjoyed them. Sculptures and statues really liven up a city!