Monday Mural

 Linking up at Monday Mural

October 2020 - Toronto ON

We ventured out on Saturday, Thanksgiving weekend, during our modified lockdown.

I gave John an address for the GPS but didn't tell him where we were going.

Part of the old village of Chester that, along with Todmorden, made up present-day north Riverdale, this little slice of Torontopia offers one of the best views of the city skyline (and the Brick Works) we didn’t know existed.

Chester Hill Lookout

Brick Works - another excursion, just a tease, there are murals on the expressway columns down on the right of this photo.

Astrology wheel chalk-work by local artist Victor Fraser, a sidewalk artist and poet based in Toronto, Ontario. He has been painting paved surfaces for the past 20 years, painting in six different countries.

More of his work on Ossington Ave.

Fire station pavement mural.
 

On Queen St. East after the lookout. I had a list of things to see.

'Tkaranto Past/Tkaranto Future', was created by Indigenous artists Odinamaad (Isaac Narcisco Weber), and Chief Ladybird (Nancy King), along with Indigenous youth and traditional knowledge keeper Philip Cote. The artists' creation is rich in symbolism, stories and connections - from intricate designs rooted in nature, to the feather holding Toronto's urban setting.

It is on The Edwin Hotel operated by WoodGreen Community Services to provide community housing. It incorporates the former New Edwin Hotel, built in 1905 to serve as a hotel for railway passengers coming from a now closed railway station at the foot of the Don Valley.

The artists' creation is rich in symbolism, stories and connections - from intricate designs rooted in nature, to the feather holding Toronto's urban setting.

I featured this mural in 2016!

I am showing it again as it featured Baseball Place. This photo is from the 2016 post.

A new street in Riverside Square near Queen East and Broadview Ave. has been named Baseball Place in recognition of the original Toronto Baseball Grounds.
This is all new condos, most still works in progress or just breaking ground. 

The street is located in almost the same spot as the former Baseball Place, a leftover legacy of the roadway that provided access to the city’s first baseball stadium. The original street disappeared decades ago. 

When the stadium opened in 1886, admission was a quarter and its grandstand, which overlooked the Don Valley, could seat 2,000 fans. The name eventually changed to Sunlight Park, in honour of the nearby soap factory, and it stayed in operation until 1913 when baseball moved to the Island. 

A plaque attached to the building at 655 Queen St. E honours Sunlight Park and the Toronto Baseball Grounds.

Click here to read about Hanlon Stadium and Babe Ruth.

MURAL UPDATE

October 2020 on the south side of Queen St. East at Downtown Toyota, on their east wall.

It shows the bridge just a few feet away.

UPDATE: Iris rightly pointed out I should explain the quote.

The text is derived from the thinking of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Its meaning is a simple one: change is fundamental to the universe. 

THE RIVER I STEP IN IS NOT THE RIVER I STAND IN

Neighborhoods change. Cities change. Industries change. We change. The river you first step into, is not the same river that you’ll be standing in. That initial river has come and gone, replaced by a new river. In the words of Heraclitus, “No man ever steps in the same river twice.”

2016 - according to an article this was on the north corner of Queen East and Grant St. of Ruby Eats the gourmet grocery store of celebri-chef Lynn Crawford who now has the restaurant Ruby Watchco down the street, on our to-go-to list.