About

Toronto Pan Am Legacy Sculpture, 2015
Located: Nathan Phillips Square,
Artists: City of Toronto Staff,
Copyright 2016, Public Art Toronto. All rights reserved.

“Toronto is so boring. There’s nothing to see here.”

How many times have you heard this?

I have, quite often. And frankly, I don’t understand the sentiment. Having lived in Northern Ontario well into my teens and then again for 10 years before finally making my way back to The Six, I know boring cityscapes. Let me tell you, Toronto is anything but bland grey concrete.

Maybe it’s because I don’t see the city through the jaded eyes of a lifelong citizen. Everywhere I turn there’s something new to explore. One of my favourite things is to go to new neighbourhoods to see what sets it apart, what makes it unique. Each neighbourhood from Rexdale to The Bluffs, has its own distinct vibe. And my favourite thing to see when I go on these exploratory jaunts?

ART! Street art or statuary; mural paintings or sidewalk chalk, I love it all.

The way we choose to decorate the streets where we live and work says as much about our city as clothes, jewellery and makeup say about a person. Public art is a window into what we, as a society, find important, worthy of celebration and memory.  It’s a window into the mindset of the city, the hopes and fears of a neighbourhood at a given time in history.

Toronto is full of these flashes of insight and it’s about time we celebrate them.

So that’s what I’m going to do. I hope you’ll come along for the ride. I promise it will be anything but boring.