As you walk west on Carleton Street from Sherbourne, this is the view – Allan Gardens on the left and downtown Toronto straight ahead. One of the dominant features of this view is the large mural; it was painted by Okuda (aka Okuda San Miguel) in 2018 and is called “Equilibrium”.
A little bit farther west, and another mural comes into view. As you get closer to Homewood, look right and look up.
A giant maple tree in autumn foliage now grows up the south wall of 140 Carleton Street. This is a much newer mural, “Ecology of Us”. Jarus painted this wonderful 22 storey tree this past month.
It is best viewed from Allan Gardens where the trees are also wearing their October finery these days. In fact, the tree in the mural is based on one of the maple trees here in the park.
The “Ecology of Us” project is part of the StreetARToronto (StART) Monumental
Program. This program funds large-scale, high-rise building murals across Toronto in collaboration with building owners (in this case, WJ Properties). This is their second large mural in the city.
“Equilibrium” can also be seen from Allan Gardens. It pokes its head up over the roof of one of the greenhouses.
To see the whole of “Equilibrium”, you have to walk over to Jarvis Street because Grace Toronto Church, and other buildings, are in the way.
Okuda was the lead artist; he was assisted by Adrian Hayles, Kayla Buium, and Stephanie Bellefleur. It was funded largely by STEPS Public Art
below: Part of a larger mural originally painted by Scaner in 2014. It was fixed up in 2018 by Zek One and Axe Lalime.
below: Call me Daniel
below: The top part of “Ne m’oublie pas” (“Don’t Forget Me”), created by artist Kezna Dalz during the 2024 Mural Festival
below: Bottom of the same mural
below: Incomplete and unfinished, Damaged, one-eyed man who doesn’t look too pleased – perhaps it’s the squiggles that have taken over his forehead.
below:Osheen Siva painted this large portrait with its radiating long blue hair and blue lips.
below: SNIKR’s paint roller girls
below: Mural on the lower level seen closer.
below: I think that the signature says Lea but I am not sure. What I am sure of is that he/she has a strange imagination!
below: “C’est compliqué” (It’s Complicated) by Sara Erenthal. Unfortunately the bottom part of the mural has been painted over. Originally there were two figures within the body of the woman (see next photo)…..
below: All wrapped up.
below: Take the iconic I ♥ NY and transform it into a love letter to Montreal.
below: Tasty treats and curly straws.
below: You’ve seen the signs that say “Beware of Dog”, well, here we have Beware of Old Bald Man!
below: She has six hands, two of which are holding a skull. She also has a very long (and ugly) tongue. Not the kind of person (creature?) that you would want to run into in an alley – even if she does have some similarities to the Hindu goddess Kali. Kali is associated with time, destruction, death, and the Divine Motherhood; she is the power of creation and destruction. I guess that she needs six hands after all. Painted by Bibi Una.
below: Obscured by fragments of those left behind.
below: Sad button eyes
below: Happy faces
below: Rage5 stencilled on five heads covered
below: mmm
below: It vaguely looks like a person….
below: A tiny man under a red heart
below: “I’m feeling blue – may be the skeleton is too, he’s been scrolling so long on his phone he doesn’t realize that he’s now dead.
below: A big toothy grin and a sticker from peau-bleus
below: FUQU and a wrench (probably profane but c’est la vie), wings and devil horns.
below: “I’m grateful you’re alive” … I am also grateful that you have found your way to this page!
below: The egg (that could be a globe?) and the cheeseburger ran away.
below: “The Temple” created by Mylène Chabot, Marie Gosselin, Benjamin Picard, and Mathias Vouters on Rue Duluth
below: It looks like nature is reclaiming the city
below: Also on Duluth is this large metallic looking face that was painted by Alex Bacon in 2023 as part of Mural Fest. She (he?) seems to be sleeping.
I’m not talking about an edible sandwich [insert silly emoji here], but rather this post is about the Ontario town of Sandwich and some of the murals that they have.
In a park setting – the story of a day in the life of a town, 24 May 1855.
On the left, the construction of a new Court House is well underway.
“Alexander Mackenzie and Brother (contractors), Albert H. Jordan – Architect”
In the middle the banner across the top of the panel says it all – “Queen Victoria’s 35th birthday, the 24th day of May, 1855” [note: Her 35th birthday was actually in 1854]. I suspect that the line of men is supposed to be all the dignitaries and local bigwigs (some of whom were named at the bottom of the image) who have come to celebrate a queen’s birthday and witness the laying of the cornerstone.
“The Laying of the corner stone for the 4th Court House to stand on this site. Dignitaries – Hon. Archibald Maclean (Judge), Rev. E. H. Dewar, Warden S.S. MacDonell, Sheriff Wm Duperon Baby, Col. John Prince, Treasurer George Bullock, Judge J.A. Wilkinson, Clerk Charles Baby, Col. Arthur Rankin, Alexander Chewett (Judge), John McEwan, and Col. James Askin (Registrar).”
below: Meanwhile, on the right, there was a party going on.
“View of 3rd Court House still standing (background). A reception was held in the Marquee with Luker’s Band.”
below: This is the Court House that was built in 1854/5 by the Mackenzie brothers (Alexander Mackenzie (1822-1892) then served as the federal Member of Parliament for the area between 1867 and 1892. He was the second Prime Minister of Canada (1873-1878)) . The building was used as a Court House until 1963. It is now known as Mackenzie Hall.
There is a panel in this mural (not shown) that tells the story of the Battle of Windsor. The first paragraph gives an account from the perspective of the man in charge, Col. John Prince (the one sitting on the white horse). … “In his diary for December 4 1838 Col. John Prince wrote: ‘A cold day. Awoke at 6 am by an alarm gun at Sandwich. Rose and saw a fire at Windsor. Proceeded there with the militia and found it in possession of Brigands and Pirates. We attacked them and killed 27 and took about 20 prisoners. I ordered the first 5 taken to be shot. We lost 4 men, and poor Dr. Hum Asst. Staff Surgeon who was cruelly Murdered by them!’ “
below: Another piece of local history…..
“Simon Girty U.E. 1741 – 1818 Girty’s life crossed cultural boundaries between Native and White societies on the frontier of American settlement. In 1756 his family was captured by a French-led Native war party in Pennsylvania. Simon was adopted by the Seneca, then repatriated in 1764. An interpreter at Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh). He became an intermediary with Native Nations.
In 1778, dismayed over rebel policy on the Natives, Simon fled to Detroit. During the Revolutionary War and subsequent conflicts in the Ohio Valley, he was employed by the British Indian Department while serving Native Nations as a negotiator, scout, and military leader. Anger at his defection and fearful of his influence Americans made Ginty a scapegoat for frontier atrocities. Girty was actively involved with old Sandwich. He is buried on his homestead in Amherstburg. “
The above paragraphs are a transcription of the text in the mural. There is a plaque in Pennsylvania that honours him and one part of it says, “… he became an interpreter for the American army; deserted in 1778. Afterwards, led British and Native American war parties against frontier settlements. Hostile to the US in the War of 1812. Regard as a loyalist by some and as a “White Savage” by others.”
below: “Healthy Communities”, a mural about doctors, nurses, hospitals, and pharmacists both past and present.
below: In the top corner, “General Benedict Arnold’s granddaughter, Margaret Arnold McEwan of Sandwich, braved cholera to care for immigrants in 1854”. Also in blue and across the top of this part of the mural is a drawing of the Braid Building. It was a Sanitorium that was built in 1923 to house tuberculosis patients. Cholera and TB, two diseases that are much rarer nowadays.
In case you are unsure where Sandwich is, it is on the Detroit River just outside of Windsor (or is a suburb of Windsor)
It is where you will find the Gordie Howe Bridge – which is now opened (finally!)
Blvd St Laurent is one of the streets in Montreal that has become known for its street art. Some of the past murals have disappeared as redevelopment swallows up older buildings but new murals keep appearing. Two of these recent murals are at Avenue Mont-Royal and were painted during Mural Fest 2026 earlier this summer.
below: This is Greg Mike’s contribution to the 2026 Montreal Mural Festival. It is about 85 feet long and 25 feet high. There is a white hand holding a paintbrush that has been dipped in blue. There are also several eyes and partial faces surrounding the woman with the blue circle around her eye.
below: Two little Waxhead creatures have survived – they were new in 2015. Looking good for their age!
below: This is part of a mural by Vincent Arnold, and is another 2026 addition to the murals along Blvd Saint Laurent. This pink faced man is reaching for ….
below: ….. fruit. The strawberry doesn’t seem too concerned though.
… where you can find two large murals on opposite corners.
below: Along Rue Marie-Anne is part of Izabelle Duguay’s “Toucher L’horizon” with its pink/blue mountain rising above the blue water. The whole mural wraps around two sides of the building.
below: The “Ange de Bordeaux” was Aristides de Sousa Mendes (1885-1954). He was Portuguese consul-general in Bordeaux France where he defied the orders of the Portuguese government and issued visas to thousands of refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied France, including Jews. He lost his job because of it and died in poverty after the war. The many accolades and awards that he received all came after his death. The mural was painted by Awie in 2022.
below: A blue lion is the centerpiece in Kevin Ledo’s mural on Marie-Anne (across the street from L’Ange de Bordeaux).
below: This is a more complete picture of the mural. The blue of the lion as well as the patterns formed by the blue squares and rectangles recall some of the features of Portuguese ceramic tiles.
below: Waiting to cross Blvd Saint Laurent.
below: More of “Toucher L’horizon”
One of the corners at St. Laurent and Marie-Anne is Parc du Portugal – you can see some of the park trees in the picture above. Directly across the park from Izabelle Duguay’s mural are more artworks with a Portuguese connection.
below: This is a portrait of Amalia Rodrigues. As you can probably surmise, she was a musician. Rodrigues (1920-1999) was known as the Queen of Fado; fado is a Portuguese music genre. The mural was painted by Paulo Carreira.
below: This mosaic, “Azulejos” was presented to the City of Montreal by the Portuguese community. The word ‘azulejos’ refers to the painted and glazed ceramic tiles that the artwork is made of.
below: A closer look at part of the image. There are a lot of little details hidden in it.
below: “Whatever make sense to your soul”. Interesting sticker even if it has a grammar mistake in the text.
below: Shitty graffiti!
below: “Ma voix est-elle muette a vos oreilles?” A literal translation is: “Is my voice silent to your ears?” Or would Portuguese be more appropriate?… “Será que a minha voz é silenciosa para ti?”
If you walk east on Bloor from Dundas West, you will encounter a railway bridge.
A section of the walls of this underpass have recently been painted by 40+ artists. The south side is now covered in new murals.
This underpass has been painted previously – back in 2015 both the north and south walls were painted in a Wallnoize project (see post from 2015). Some of the same artists appear on this updated version. This time it was StreetARToronto that sponsored the artworks. Let’s take a look at some of the murals (in no particular order)….
below: Stay young! An old man on a bike that he outgrew years ago! by Adrian Hayles
below:Opola Karim painted this Toronto skyline scene, a view that is well known to anyone who has visited the Toronto islands.
below: Peaceful, loving hands joining together by Phillip Saunders aka Loveishere
below: Close to the west end of the underpass is this colourful section. The collection of birds on the right side were painted by two artists, Just J. Art (the hummingbird and the hibiscus flower) and Ambsoul Art
below: A peace dove in a swirl of calligraphy, by Medeio
below:Danilo Deluxo, a woman in an elaborate helmet, futuristic pilot.
below: Facing each other, Danilo Deluxo and Drippin’ Soul
below: Using shades of black, teal and magenta, Drippin’ Soul has created a very metallic looking profile
below: That’s one creepy red eye! Or is it two red eyes? Ahhhh…. the red eye and brass (bronze?) pieces are part of a mask and the design was apparently “inspired by the taotie motifs of the Shang dynasty” (Quote is from MonkYi’s instagram page). The Shang dynasty dates back to between 1600 BC and 1050 BC; it marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in China. A taotie was a mythological creature that represented greed and gluttony.
below:Ghazaraza‘s ladies are sharing a pot of tea.
below: Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere… Oh, I don’t know just why She simply caught my eye…. Or you can all it by its title, “Wildlife in Bloom” by Lula Lumaj.
below: A cute little grey cat with green eyes.
below: GO train – definitely On the Move!
below: “The Lookout aka the Fruit Bandits” not letting a fence get in the way! by Jim Bravo
below: Mother and daughter watching the traffic in a mural by Colin Tea.
below: Part of a monochrome mural by Nicolas Araneda aka niko.volts that has a lot of very American feet walking all over the faces of other people as lay on the ground…. ‘Trampling’ might be a better verb than ‘walking’
below: Some walk in heavy boots, and others swim with open mouth ….
below: “Not today Satan”. There’s a lot going on here – the Silly Sausage Gang being front and center. 33wallflower33 in her white coat with the fuzzy collar and little decorations by catchoo . There is also a T-bonez (of urban ninja squadron fame) wearing a green shirt and a necklace with a pendant – that’s Sticker Eddie he’s wearing, apparently. The red-hearted pug’s name is Mopsi. Mopsi has something in his mouth but the donut is in the way (for more Mopsi see the Instagram page of his creator, So schoen immer weider)…. And the other dog is a collaboration between TRP613 (check out the reflections in the sunglasses!) and DivadogLA
below: “Get me out of here” and a dose of Instant Karma.
below: Free Iran
below: This painting of a woman with her headphones above and yellow birdie walking a dog below was one of the first murals in Graffiti Alley – the work of Uber5000. Not many originals still exist!
below: Elicser Elliott’s contribution to a larger mural that has been painted below the pink Poser bunny, “Don’t watch me cry”
below: Half a face. He only needs one eye to stare at you.
below: Gold… With a garland of white and blue flowers.
below: A very large and very purple bear is at the door.
below: He or she looks rather cramped in there. Signature says Neem?
below: Another flower garland and another Neem head squeezed into a box.
below: Scowling and smoking with ace in his cap.
below: Skydome forever and ALCS, as well as Vladdy’s number 27 shirt and World Series 2025…. little blue and white pieces of ceramic that celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays that someone lovingly made.
below: One Inch? … And other stickers crammed together.
below: “We are the colours of corn”
below: More stickers and pasteups including catchoo’s dumpster fire that t-bonez from urban ninja squadron is using to dry his socks and underwear.
below: A couple of contributions from Dogmaslaps here (they’re all about dogs in case you haven’t guessed yet).
below: More pasteups, some of which are quite intricate and detailed … especially the top two (vulture and jaguar?) which are both the creations of Ezpektro.
below: Sharing space with the Ezpektro pieces are a few smaller pasteups, some of which were made by artists that are new to me. There is a pink bike in the top right, the same bike that is in the Make Art Not War poster in the above image… BikeDeSuro creates stickers and wheatpaste featuring bikes. From the left, a woman by Fiigueers and then a young girl with the Spanish words, “que nunca se apague la llama de la autonomia” which translates to “may the flame of autonomy never be extinguished”… The collection is rounded out with a guitar player from Sentient Cookie and a cute little green guy from Catchoo.
below:MonkYi cat with a very real looking heart in his claws. Two carp swimming on the pavement in front.
below: Charmander, a Pokemon character.
below: Alfred E. Neuman makes an appearance in a couple of places – he’s the dude from MAD Magazine.
below: By 50 shades of greatt aka Adam McKnight – It looks a lot like Sponge Bob… maybe it’s his cousin? But what’s with that tongue? It looks like a slug is trying to slither out of his mouth.
below: Verity and a happy face.
below: Someone is not impressed…. Lame
below: Green guy says: “In one year’s time, strike your blow, I shall return.”
below: Dance the Dance My Girl,” is located in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Vancouver. It is a collaboration between Ari de la Mora and Irving Cano and it was painted as part of the 2017 Vancouver Mural Festival.
below: A woman in traditional clothing and jewelry, holding a very realistic looking heart and a pineapple. The latter symbolizes hospitality and abundance.
below: The Mississippi Mudds is an amateur theatre group based in Carleton Place (Ontario). Why Mississippi? Because the town of Carleton Place is on the Mississippi RIver, the one in Ontario, not the more famous one to the south.
below: mmm
below: Ode to Stompin’ Tom Connors (1936-2013), country and folk singer and songwriter. “Everyone’ll tell ya around Carleton Place – Mississippi dripped off of big Joe’s face…” This quote is a line from Connors’ song ‘ Big Joe Mufferaw’. In the song, a very large Joe was a logger and when he worked, the sweat dripping from Joe’s face was so massive that it formed both Mississippi Lake and the Mississippi River.
below: A mural in memory of Captain Roy Brown (1893-1944), a WW1 flying ace and the pilot who was officially credited with shooting down Manfred von Richthofen, otherwise known as the “Red Baron”. Brown was born in Carleton Place where his father owned a power company.
below: This picture is one of several that illustrate some of the events in the town’s history. They are mounted on the walls of a small building next to the city hall. Ballygiblin refers to Ballygiblin House, North Cork, Ireland where many Irish immigrants came from in the very early 1800s. They settled in Lanark County around the Mississippi River back when Carleton Place was known as Morphy’s Falls. At the time, men had to register with the local militia (mustering). During one of these mustering events in 1824, fights broke out between the Irish of Carleton Place and the Scots of nearby Almonte. There were also religious differences. The fighting lasted for a couple of days with one dead, several wounded and some buildings damaged. Picture by Shaun McInnis.
below: In a couple of places, old style signs have been painted on old buildings. Taylor’s Hardware did exist in downtown Carleton Place and in fact, it was in this building. William Taylor built the store in 1888 and his sons Jack and Frank continued the legacy until the Depression in 1929. At one point it was Taylor’s Department Store and Garage.
below: Just up the street from Taylor’s is the Canadian Tire wall. Here you can find four images from old Canadian Tire ads along with an older version of their logo – probably from 1957.
below: She quietly sits, absorbed in her book
below: “Last Train to Carleton Place #1226 – January 8, 1960,” was painted in 2013 by artist Shaun McInnis on the side of Edwards Grocery building, another old building in Carleton Place. Back in the 1920s trains on the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) stopped here on their run between Montreal and Vancouver. There were also many trains to Ottawa, Brockville, and Pembroke.
below: Memorial to Wayne Richards, also known as Wandering Wayne. It too was painted by Shaun McInnis.
Wayne Richards (1936-2016) Wayne believed that “one step at a time” was good for the soul. He will forever be known as “Wandering Wayne” to the town of Carleton Place. He was one of the last milkmen to deliver door to door by horse drawn wagon, working for both the Maple Leaf Dairy and Carleton Place Dairy. If you took the time to talk to him he could tell you more about the town and your family than you thought possible. Wayne asked for the best of each of us in our little town and hopefully we met his expectations. Thanks Wayne for always reminding us to take the time to be kind. May you be walking the clouds in heaven.”
