Monday Mural and Tuesday Treasures

 I'm linking up at Monday Mural and Tuesday Treasures

April 2026 - Toronto ON 

Found in this laneway, off Dundas West. 

For Tuesday Treasures, an update to my 2024 project. Click here for a history of Toronto lane naming and a list of other lanes. That post is a work in progress, and hasn't been updated in a while.

Rocco Mandalfino (1899 –1979) was born in Italy, the child of Antonio Mandalfino and Caterina Le Castro. He served in the Italian Army during the Great War. He was awarded the 1968 World War I Gold medal commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Great War, and in 1971 was made a Cavaliere dell’Ordine di Vittorio Venito (Knight of the Order of Vittorio Venito) by the Republic of Italy for his war service.  He sailed from Palermo, aboard the SS DANTE ALIGHIERI, arriving at Ellis Island (New York City, USA) on 18 August 1923, at 24 years of age. Unmarried. A Roman Catholic. Intended occupation, a labourer. In 1928 Rocco appears in the Toronto City Directory for the first time. First residence; 23 Denison Avenue. Over the next few years, he moves twice more (1360 St. Clair Avenue West and 47 McKay Avenue). He was employed as a shoemaker at American Shoe Repair in 1930-31. He resides at 77 Bellwoods Avenue, Toronto, from 1933 until his passing in 1979.  He is listed as working as a baker until 1960 (Canadian Bakery, Woman’s Bakery, as a guard for Security and Investigation Services until 1969.   He was known as The Builder, (see applicant submission.) 

For Monday Mural PART ONE these murals are painted on the garage doors, a common canvas for street art in this area. The garages are located behind the houses, typically at the back of the gardens.

Featuring a black bear and a moose set against a colorful northern lights background, this was painted by Toronto-based artist Nick Sweetman in 2022. 

Nick Sweetman is a recognized Canadian street artist known for detailed animal illustrations.

 Click on SWEETMAN in the tags/labels below this post to see his many murals around town.

 

The artist's signature, "SWEETMAN 22," is visible in the lower right corner of the mural. 

This mural is by artist Rowell Soller. 

It features his signature style, often characterized by complex patterns and anthropomorphic figures.

The artwork is located on a residential garage door, a common canvas for street art in this area.

The mural showcases intricate line work and a specific color palette often found in Soller's Toronto-based projects.

More Soller, 2020, during the pandemic.

Soller on Lake Shore Blvd.

This mural, titled "Hearts on Fire," was created by Toronto-based street artist D. Terra Stencils. 

It depicts a firefighter using a hose to spray a large red heart, symbolizing "burning love" or a firefighter attempting to extinguish a fire.

Toronto-based stencil artist D.Terra emerged during the pandemic, focusing on large-scale works that quickly garnered widespread community support. Despite the ephemeral nature of street art, his pieces, featuring raccoon symbolism and cultural references, persist in sparking meaningful discussions.

Another D. Terra

Monday Mural

 I'm linking up at Monday Mural

November 2020 - Toronto ON

I showed a little of these murals in a weekly recap.

At first I was just going to post all the photos, but then realized there were some extra special murals here and I would highlight those first.

The hoarding surrounds a construction project being built on the site of the decommissioned OPG coal-fired power plant, Lakeview Village will transform former industrial lands into a vibrant waterfront community, connecting Mississauga to this portion of Lake Ontario for the first time in decades.

This section of the construction hoarding spans 323ft (w) x 8ft (h) and each artist selected will be allocated a 25ft(w) x 8ft(h) canvas. Artists were asked to develop a mural that shares the message they believe the world needs to hear right now. Murals were produced on wood hoarding. Artists were asked to consider materials that will withstand weather conditions and graffiti for an 8-10 month period.

John was pondering how muralists make their money. On the Call for Submission The budget is $3,000+ HST (CAD) for a 25ft (w) x 8ft mural (h), and is inclusive of artist fees, project meetings, concept development, materials and documentation rights. Technical, equipment and data support for live-streaming will be provided.

Nigel Westgate created Waterfront highlighting some of the animals we find along Lake Ontario.

Lynn Taylor is a member of the Oneida Nation of The Thames reserve in Ontario (Turtle Clan). She created this work to honor the previous Indigenous Nations of the area in a land acknowledgement. This art shows how we’re all united: all living creatures, land, and water. It’s dedicated to the Anishinabek, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Metis, Ojibway-Chippewa and our Mississaugas of the Credit.

Mihyun Maria Kim painted the four sisters, which is the nickname for the four smokestacks of the Lakeview Generating Station. She looked into the history of the area to discover that many women worked in the Small Arms Inspection Building nearby to support the men who went overseas to fight in WWII. 

Note to self - stop by the Small Arms building!!

Monica Wickeler created Breathe

Rowell Soller created this work that combines abstraction and realism as a form of healing and rejuvenation.

My absolute favourite of this collection!
Khaula Mazhar created as a message of hope to the community. Although we’re living in isolation, we need to work together to overcome what’s going on in the world right now. She purposefully chose a Black woman to represent Mother Nature in an effort to increase the visibility of Black people in a positive light.

FaithFetish’s mural, Consume Less, Create More is a good reminder!

Joanne Feely DeGraaf Pollinator Playground

The Age of Illumination by Jacquie Comrie

Caitlin Taguibao Time To Let the Flowers Bloom

Embrace Your Daydreams by Elizabeth Wise

Keitha Keeshig-Tobias Biizindam who comes from Delaware Nation at Moraviantown, Anishnaabe from Neyaashiinigamiing Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.

The four Indigenous sisters and four sunflowers represent four Anishinaabe Kwe Water Principles that function to protect the water, the natural environment, and removing dirty energy plants.

Hello Kirsten is promising us that it will be worth the wait to keep safe in these times.

A Dish With One Spoon is a poem by Dr. Duke Redbird, an elder, poet, activist, artist, educator, and a pillar of First Nations literature in Canada. This poem describes Indigenous life on the waterfront in the GTA. It describes how their languages were influenced by Mother Nature and adopted as the names of places around Toronto.

Aitak Sorahitalab uses Iranian and Mesopotamian cultural materials in her work to highlight social and political issues. Etude uses Iranian spiral carpet designs, Eslimi, to reflect cultural diversity.

Monday Mural

 Linking up at Monday Mural

September 2020 - Toronto ON

The StreetARToronto Front Line Heroes Project, showcases that Toronto is home to some of the best street, mural and graffiti artists and art in the world. This new series of artworks features street, mural and graffiti art that celebrates Toronto front line service providers including health care workers, volunteers and other heroes responding to the global coronavirus pandemic. Titled “Celebrating Front Line Heroes” the works represent a diversity of essential workers of all ages, genders, backgrounds and professions from mail carriers and grocery store employees to teachers and sanitation workers, as well as doctors, nurses, and first responders, all painted by an equally diverse group of artists.

Artists - Soller, Flips & Kreecha

Rowell Soller is a Filipino-Canadian, multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Scarborough. His practice revolves around traditional painting on canvas, sculpture and murals. He has established a signature style of his own, called ‘Ancient Graffuturism’. 

Flips is a Toronto based multi-media artist, life enthusiast and visual storyteller. Inspired by the blending of cultural forces in Toronto and his homeland of Bulgaria, he is best known in the streets of Toronto for his signature Swirl Style, which reflects the philosophy of unity through art in the swirling of color and line. Kreecha is an indigenous multidisciplinary artist with over 10 years experience creating across Turtle island. Heart centred in hiphop; a rich cultural upbringing breathes through his practice of traditional indigenous arts, realism, calligraphy and letter formations. His works draw on legend and the teachings of his elders.

Titled ‘Art is Essential’, this mural depicts a feminine figure painting a rose. Black and white with symbolic elements in red, it represents humanity during the pandemic. The feminine figure (Mother Earth) is is wearing a face-mask. The piece focuses on promoting the practice of creation (art) as a coping mechanism for the stress and anxiety that most feel during this moment in time. Front line/essential workers are honoured in the body of the figure using graffiti style lettering and tags to spell out gratitude for several groups. Antlers symbolize the growth of mind and link to the universe. Two icons represent peace and love. The rings surrounding the rose feature graffiti artist Flips’ signature “Swirl Clusters” (representing community here and now) and the Rowell Soller “Spirit Strokes” (representing the spirits of those who have passed). Script work by Kreecha further expresses gratitude and adds a visual texture that completes the piece.