Toronto’s urban atmosphere translates just as well onto the city’s walls as it does onto the radio. Venturing deep into the west end, you’ll encounter Graffiti Alley, a place where the canvas becomes a blank, brick wall, as opposed to a linen sheet. Although graffiti was once recognized as vandalism, Toronto has recently adopted the New York frame of mind, and has allowed artists to express themselves beyond square mobile canvases.
StreetARToronto, or StART, is a newly initiated program by the City of Toronto, to promote street art, and discourage vandalism. Described as a “pro-active program,” the idea behind it is to develop and support street art’s role in adding visual interest and character to Toronto’s neighbourhoods, while counteracting the harmful effect of graffiti vandalism on communities. By promoting the artistic aspect of street art, StART is helping dispel the negative stereotypes surrounding this art form.
Public art is far more expressive than meets the eye; it goes beyond disfiguring public property. Its intention is to garner attention, and strike the spectator often with a controversial issue that is relevant to the society in which it domesticates itself in. It is a means of communicating public matters directly to the public eye — a message hidden in plain sight. Its simplicity is its artistry in itself, as it doesn’t require any particular speculation to be understood. It is honest, frank, and direct, without any of the flourish of classical art forms.
Lately, organizations have been commissioning artists to publicize messages, or simply to create visual interest for their patrons, through this unique and contemporary medium. Jesse Harris, artist of the, “You’ve Changed” mural outside of CAMH, painted the artwork to remind individuals who had suffered from mental illness that they had in fact changed — surfacing from the rehabilitation program as entirely different individuals. In 2012, The Reclamation Project constructed what is believed to be the largest graffiti production wall in Canada, along the rail corridors used by the Milton, Kitchener, and Barrie GO Train lines. Bringing together over 65 different artists from across the country, and with each of their individual sections spelling a letter of “Parkdale,” “West Queen West,” “Liberty Village,” and “Toronto,” this project brought community and national pride to a previously vandalized wall.
Toronto’s age of embracing street art has only just begun, and with programs such as StART, the prodigious talent of the city’s artists can be displayed in a meaningful and inclusive way.
