Hiding An Evil Lair
This collage/photo is of one of the 5 new murals around the great big hole in Allan Gardens which will be around for a couple of years!
In early January, a big chunk of Allan Gardens (the part just north west of Gerrard and Sherbourne), was boarded up and the city started moving in large earth moving equipment and cranes. It was depressing since I’m used to getting a great view of trees and park as I head to work each morning and now I’m looking at great blank pieces of plywood.
The reports say this disruption of beauty was going to last 3 YEARS in order to fix water mains across the city (read more from Melissa Wilson on Openfile.ca) It’s important to note that Gerry suspects is actually surrounding a new evil lair being built, and I’m inclined to believe him!
But one morning in late June, things had changed. There was graffiti on the walls. “GREAT!”, I thought since I’d much prefer to see local artists, official or not, use this and make it something wonderful again.
It turns out that this was the official start of a really interesting mural project bringing together 21 members of Toronto’s Aboriginal community together to design and create five vignettes to illustrate Aboriginal history in the area.
I’m delighted to see the artwork going up and the people working on it each morning. It’s making me smile on my way to work again.
More on the future of Allan Gardens here
