Monday Mural

 I'm linking up at Monday Mural

September 2019 - Toronto ON

As part of the TTC’s (Toronto Transit Corporation) Public Art Program, Elicser depicts the many faces of Bloor West Village as they pass through time, and Runnymede station in “Anonymous Somebody”.

These large format pieces (one is almost 5 metres long) capture people waiting on platforms or catching some shut-eye on the TTC’s iconic red seats. The images are taken directly from the artist’s sketchbook, which he filled with images of people both from life and his imagination.

50s fashion and hair styles mixed with 21st century technology.

“It’s for all the people that have passed through Runnymede station in the last 50 years and more,” says Elliot of the digitally coloured works.

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“For example, the nurse is my agent’s grandmother who lives four blocks from the station. She would take the same subway to work every morning for 40 years. So different stories of different people are in the piece.”

Tuesday Treasures

Tom the backroads traveller hosts this weekly meme.

September 2018 - Toronto ON

The Runnymede Library, whose architect was John M. Lyle, opened in 1929. Lyle also designed Toronto’s new Union Station, which was officially opened in 1927, as well as the 1497-seat Royal Alexander Theatre, which commenced stage performances in 1907, and the impressive headquarters of the Bank of Nova Scotia at King and Bay Streets. Lyle was born in Ireland in 1872, but spent his childhood in Hamilton, Ontario. He studied at Yale University and in Paris. He commenced his career in New York City, but returned to Canada in 1905, and lived in Toronto. He is often referred to as a “progressive traditionalist,” as he combined the best of the traditional architectural styles, but included modern motives that combined English, French, and Aboriginal traditions. The Runnymede Library is one of the best examples of a building that includes these three traditions. Lyle greatly promoted Beaux Arts Classicism.

Since the library opened in 1929, it has been expanded to the north, but Lyle’s original design has never been compromised.
 

The walls of the two-storey Runnymede Library are constructed of rough, highly textured stone from the Credit River Valley. The steep black-slate roof and gabled windows are reminiscent of French Canadian architecture. The four gables that face Bloor Street break the roof line on the south side. The doorway has carved-stone totem poles and other Native Peoples’ motifs.

The west elevation is for children and is less formal, with a separate entrance and a staircase leading to the second-floor reading area.

September City Theme

This month's theme is LIBRARY - Click HERE

August 2016 - Toronto ON

I am and have always been an avid Toronto library user. When I worked at Bay and Bloor I would frequent this library for hard copy books.

Yorkville Branch Library opened on June 13, 1907, in what was then the city's north end. It was the first of four libraries constructed with a $350,000 grant made by Andrew Carnegie to the Toronto Public Library in 1903. Designed by Robert McCallum, City Architect, Yorkville's classical, Beaux Arts style is similar to libraries in many smaller Ontario communities. It features two pairs of columns, a projected portico, Doric capitals, a bracketed cornice, and stone quoins, band courses and keystones. Yorkville is now the Toronto Public Library's oldest library.

Then I moved to York and Adelaide so I would walk to this library on my lunch hour. It is on the ground floor of City Hall.

It is a large bright area with lots of windows. Perfect for pulling up a chair and browsing magazines. By then they had introduced placing holds by computer and you would receive a voice mail telling you you're books were in.



You can borrow books, ebooks, CDs, videos, musical instruments, musical scores pedometers, picture collections, digital equipment, magazines. You can even borrow museums and arts passes!!



The jewel of Toronto Public Libraries is the Reference Library.

The Toronto Reference Library has one of the world's foremost collections of library materials devoted to the life and work of Arthur Conan Doyle. Much of the collection, of course, is devoted to Doyle's most famous character, Sherlock Holmes. The collection is accessed through the Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre on the 5th floor of the Library.

I caught a couple more as we drove about town last week as I had this topic on my mind.