Toronto communities getting a makeover with giant murals
Posted November 26, 2019 11:33 pm.
Last Updated November 28, 2019 10:04 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
As you travel through the city, it’s easy to find wall murals painted in different communities on canvases as varied as tall buildings, parks, shops, or even the sides of houses.
In recent years, the scale of these projects has reached new heights, literally — five, 10, 20-storeys or more, all with their own story to tell.
They are being woven into the urban landscape through a number of initiatives including the city’s own Street Art Program – StART. It’s aimed at encouraging walking and cycling and supporting local artists through different partnerships.
“Art, and public art, is a service, it’s a service that is delivered to the residents of Toronto, and one of the wonderful things about the Street Art Toronto program is that it does not come from the tax base,” notes Carolyn Taylor, the project manager of StreetARToronto for the City of Toronto. Instead, funding comes from partnerships and advertising dollars.
Toronto artist Jerry ‘Birdo’ Rugg is all praise for StART.
“I’ve worked civically all across Canada, across the world, and yes it can be tricky with red tape, but we have people in that department in Toronto that believe in the cause and are doing amazing things. I am a huge, huge, fan of StART, Street Art Toronto, it’s nothing but love,” he says.
Watch: Toronto street artist Jerry ‘Birdo’ Rugg talks about how street art can brighten up people’s day-to-day grind.
Do you have any favourite street art pieces you’ve spotted across the city? We want to see your most loved murals, where they are and why you love them. We’ll add them to our gallery below and could feature your response on-air on CityNews.
