Even when I walk in Toronto, sometimes I find myself in unfamiliar territory and so it was back in December when I went to investigate some alleys where I’d heard that new murals had been painted.
below: Around Toronto there are quite a few raccoons in murals by Emily May Rose. Here, these “trash pandas” are being watched over by a big white rat. Quite the dumpster fire!
below: A large mural by BirdO (aka Jerry Rugg) beside Charles Sauriol school
below: Near the birdO mural (you can just see it on the left side here) is a house with street art covering the whole side of it.
below: A man reaching out a multicoloured hand to a woman by Phillip Saunders covers the back part of the house
below: A brown octopus and bright coloured tiger playing together – a collaboration between Luvs and June Kim.
below: Baby birds with beaks uplifted in a mural by Bruno Smoky and Clandestinos
below: Blue jay and tomato face, rowdyradrat and Chris Perez
below: Taking cover under umbrellas on a rainy day in a mural by Elicser Elliott
below: Mural in another lane with a signature says June, Bacon, and Erika.
below: A Nick Sweetman painting of a large Cuckoo wasp feeding on a yellow flower
below: A multi-lingual thank you to essential workers on Davenport – obrigado, gracias, merci, and grazie!
below: More of Emily May Roses’s mischievous raccoons and their cans of orange spray paint.
below: Mediah blues on the right and a Que Rock mural with indigenous themes and symbols on the left.
below: Planta Muisca mural with an orange snake under a purple night sky.
below: Anya Mielniczek’s woman’s face looks down the lane.
below: A closer look of the mural reveals another woman’s head on the far side along with people mixing together in the central portion painted by Raoul
below: Suri in grey tones while drinking, mural by haenahhh
below: HeldbyHuda mural
below: by Victoria Day
below: Sections of citrus fruit in glass bowls, real? reflections? by Steam
below: Fantasy creatures playing in a mural by Kisong Koh
below: Mural by Kseniya Tsoy on a garage door.
Support for the alley murals was provided by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
I have included most of the paintings but not all. For a complete set of photos, please take a look on Erika James’s Instagram page as she was one of the organizers of the project and she has documented it well.
These murals also appear on my Walking Toronto blog in two separate posts:
1. Around Wadsworth Park and
2. South of Davenport