Tag: Queen'sPark

“Hours of the Day”

July 28, 2024 / Marvin Job / 2 Comments

In 2018, Paul Raff Studios installed a sculpture entitled Hours of the Day. The piece honours Ontario’s correctional workers who have fallen in the line of duty.

The “sheets” are actual sculptural representations of the angles of the sun as it moves over the hours of the day, month, season and year, forming a kind of a three-dimensional sundial.

The sculptor of the piece – Paul Raff – remarks that:

…one doesn’t need to read the time with it, but what it does do is speak to the theme of time, which to me was the most important and essential theme in recognizing the vital role that correctional workers play in the health of our society. It is this contribution, of the hours of service, that we felt needed to be articulated in the sculptural form.

The geometry of the sculpture is derived from a very specific and elaborate computer program which tracks the angles of the sun throughout the day.

What I love about [the sculpture is that with its very accurate, high tech, three-dimensional mapping, it actually strikes a remarkably unique figure that offers a lot of visual richness. It looks different from every angle, unfolding for pedestrians as they commute past it, looking different on their way to work than on their way home. It looks different at different times of the day, and in different light.
Paul Raff

The sculpture is situated by Queen’s Park Crescent East, near the Legislative Assembly:

“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

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Statues & Monuments of Queen’s Park

March 29, 2023 / Marvin Job / 1 Comment

It was a sunny Sunday (finally!) this past weekend, so I opted for a little wander through Queen’s Park to shoot a few of the statues, monuments and memorials there.

Tribute to Salome Bey, Canada’s Queen of the Blues

Not in Queen’s Park but this utility box on my way there caught my eye. In front of 2 Grosvenor Street, west of Yonge Street is “*Tribute to Salome Bey, Canada’s Queen of the Blues*” by Adrian Hayles, mounted in 2021. 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.

Hours of the Day Monument
Whitney Plaza, 23 Queens Park Crescent East

In 2018, Paul Raff Studios designed a sculpture flanked by granite benches as a way to honour the passage of time, reflecting the hours of service by correctional workers in the justice system, as well as in their communities. Each year, a Ceremony of Remembrance acknowledges correctional workers who have paid the ultimate price in their service.

Ontario Police Memorial
Whitney Plaza, 23 Queen’s Park Crescent East

In 2000, two bronze statues featuring a 1950’s male officer and modern era female office were unveiled atop a 30,000 pound granite pedestal base. There are 8 cascading granite walls known as the “Wall of Honour” that recognize the names of Ontario Police Officers who died in the line of duty.

Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe Monument

Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe 1752-1806, First Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, 1791-1796. Founder of the City of Toronto July 30th 1793.

Northwest Rebellion Monument

By Walter S. Allward. The monument commemorates the Northwest Rebellion of 1894-1896.

Ontario Veteran’s Memorial
Queen’s Park, 100 Wellesley Street West

In 2006, a black granite wall was designed by the landscape architect Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg to recognize the service of Canada’s military. It measures 8′ 6″ high and 100′ long. The wall features Canada’s military actions since 1867 and words from poet Jane Urquhart and military historian Professor Jack Granatstein.

Afghanistan Memorial
Queen’s Park, 100 Wellesley Street West

Adjacent to the Ontario Veteran’s Memorial, a companion memorial was installed in 2020 to recognize the 40,000+ Canadian soldiers who served in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. One part is a bronze ribbon inspired by the Afghanistan mountains. Another part is a piece of granite from an Inukshuk built by Canadian soldiers at Kandahar Airfield.

Danger

Someone at Queen’s Park has a sense of humour

Robert Raikes

Dr. Norman Bethune
1890-1939

Dr. Bethune was a Canadian surgeon who graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School. He first gained fame as a doctor for the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, and then for providing medical services to the communist-led Eighth Army during the second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930’s.

The statue shows Dr. Bethune seated, dressed in a doctor’s apron, taking field notes. The following quote is inscribed on his apron: “I am content. I am doing what I want to do. Why shouldn’t I be happy – see what my riches consist of. First I have important work that fully occupies every minute of my time… I am needed.” At the bottom of the statue is inscribed, in English and Cantonese: “The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto proudly celebrates its shared history with Dr. Norman Bethune and China, and its ongoing research and education collaborations with China.”

Cannons at the Legislative Assembly

At the entrance to the Legislature there are two Russian cannons that were captured by the British during the Crimean war and sent to Toronto as a gift.

Queen Victoria Monument
Queen’s Park, 100 Wellesley Street West

Installed in 1902, this bronze statue of Queen Victoria on a stone pedestal was designed by Mario Raggi.

Post One Monument
Queen’s Park, 100 Wellesley Street West

To celebrate Canada’s centennial in 1967, a bronze map of the country was installed. It features surveyor tools and a time capsule to be opened in 2067.

Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion Monument

This monument to the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, erected on the grounds of the Ontario provincial legislature in Toronto in 1995, was the first to commemorate Canadian involvement in International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War. Approximately 1500 Canadians volunteered to fight for the Republican cause, many out of ideological motives and class convictions underpinned by the experience of the Great Depression. They were often forced to make the long and arduous journey to Spain independently, since in 1937 the Canadian government had forbidden the involvement of its citizens in the Spanish Civil War through the passing of the Foreign Enlistment Act. Initially a number volunteered with the American Abraham Lincoln Brigade, but the substantial number of Canadian volunteers would ultimately lead to the formation of a separate battalion, named after two leaders of the unsuccessful Canadian rebellions against the British Crown in 1837-38.

Makeshift Memorial

Plaque: King George V’s Silver Jubilee

Installed in 1935, this plaque commemorates the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Time and tide have taken its toll on the inscription and it’s difficult to see, but the text reads: “This tree was planted by James Simpson, Esq., Mayor of Toronto, on the occasion of the celebration of the Twenty-Fifth anniversary of the accession of King George the Fifth to the throne. May 6th 1935”.

Whatever…

Mural outside the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus at Queen’s Park Crescent and College Street.

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A Walk Up & Down Avenue Road

November 23, 2022 / Marvin Job / 0 Comments

It was a crisp fall day when I started my Avenue Road photowalk at Bloor Street West. I made my way up Avenue Road, reached Dupont Street, then returned south until I hit University Avenue and Dundas Street West. Here’s a little of what I encountered along the way.