Blog: Street art tape measure removed from Richmond and Spadina
A landmark Toronto art piece has, once again, lost its measurement.
City officials came out with power washers on Wednesday and washed way the tape measure portion of ‘Uniform measure/STACK’, which marks the entrance to the city’s fashion district.
They’re removing the sidewalk measuring tape graffiti at Richmond and Spadina again. pic.twitter.com/jnkdEnZ58B
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— Mike Allan (@newmediamike) August 26, 2015
The distinctive art piece was created in 1997 by artist Stephen Cruise and consists of a thimble, buttons and markings of a tape measure which wraps around the northwest corner of Richmond Street and Spadina Avenue.
Years later, street artist Victor Fraser, without permission from the city, added his flare to the piece by painting the tape measure black and yellow and adding numbers. His work stood for eight years before the city washed it away, reportedly at the request of Cruise.
That seemed like it would be the end of it.
But it wasn’t.
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Fraser repainted the tape measure in July, only this time using letters instead of numbers.
There has been no word on what prompted the city to remove the street art again or if Fraser will try to make third time the charm.
