The walk being submitted for September 2023, occurred in May, when the Walking Club took a walk through west-central Toronto to see if we could find any graffiti worth admiring. Many of these works of art are found on garage doors which necessitates a tour of the back lanes of the city. These graffiti are not the careless spraying of paint by some juvenile who wants to make a mark in the neighbourhood; rather, they are works of art created by some very talented people. It amazes me what they can do with paint in spray cans when, even if I am careful spraying a chair, the paint goes all over the place.
We began our walk at the Christie subway station. Outside the station is this creation that is covered with greenery in the summer.
We walked west along Bloor St. to the first street west of Bickford Park High School; even the utility boxes were decorated.
We then took the narrow lane beside the rear of the school to arrive at our first set of garages. Some of these graffiti are classics.
Some are truly fantastic.
The lane ends at Harbord St. where we saw the old bridge that passes over Garrison Creek, now filled in.
We then walked one block east on Harbord to Grace St., crossed the road and just west of Grace found another back alley lined with decorated garages. Butterflies seemed to be a popular subject for the artists.
There were other creatures painted as well. . . .
Here is the walking group taking in the sights.
From this back lane, we made our way down to College St. to see if there were any more back alleys to explore. We found quite a few interesting areas.
Many of the murals were at the rear of College St. businesses. This one is in back of a paint store.
It seems that this business has had raccoon problems.
Walking east along College St., we passed by the Café Diplomatico, famous for being the unofficial headquarters for fans of soccer’s World Cup games.
Even the ice cream shop is decorated.
We wandered up a side street and found this dragon mural along the side of a house.
We then proceeded over to Palmerston Blvd., once a prosperous neighbourhood; but now many of the formerly elegant homes have been subdivided into flats and apartments. However, most homes have retained their gracious look.
Near Bloor St., the road was under construction so we detoured east to Markham St., passing a newly-named laneway.
Just before arriving at Bloor and the Bathurst subway station, we noticed the restoration of Mirvish Village and the new condos at the former Honest Ed’s site.
This is massive but was designed to look like several smaller buildings.
Probus Club of Kingsway-Islington 