A splash of colours at the right place!
Every week, I walk from Leslieville along King East to get to The Distillery. In October, I noticed an artist expertly drawing with spray paint on a pillar supporting the underpass, not too far from the Body Glitz Spa (497 King East). The following days, I brought my camera with me to follow the progress of the art piece which rapidly turned into four ambitious murals covering the four pillars, bringing a splash of colour in this otherwise grey part of town.
I'm thrilled because it will add to our visit to the fantastic Corktown Common. The murals are only a 3-minute walk from the Queen and Sumach streetcar stop (by Savoury Grounds coffee shop). Walking down Sumach, you get to admire a giant gnome on a building. Keep going, turn right on King and you'll see the murals. Then, a 7-min walk eastbound on King and down Lawrence Street will lead you to the fantastic Underpass Park and Corktown Common, a mere 200 metres further south (see the little map).
About StreetART
Here are photos of the making of the underpass murals. I had noticed that one of the persons involved with the project wore a sweater with StreetART logo. I looked it up and saw that it is an initiative of the City to embellish the town (and offer an outlet for artists). Each mural is signed by the thre artists Shalak Attack, Bruno Smoky and Fiya Bruxa.
In an interesting article by Anwar Ali (The new face of street art, Globe and Mail, Nov. 22), I learned that the murals are part of the Underpass Program, managed by StreetART.
Have you noticed paintings covering your local traffic signal boxes in the last two years? It is another StreetART initiative called Outside the box. How cool is that?
If you arrive by Queen, you'll see the gnomes on Sumach Street. Walk to King then turn right.
The first mural to appear features a woman surrounded by seas. Mother Earth?
The second mural StreetART worked on features a young and urban Toronto, with highways and the new streetcar.
Across the street, on the north side, the mural features a spectacular old man surrounded by references to an earlier Toronto.
The fourth mural to be finished features a young child with the promise of a bright future thanks to a good education.
Corktown, a boring neck of the wood no more!
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