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Toronto subway public art

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This article catalogues public art on the Toronto subway. It lists public art installed at Toronto subway stations by subway line and station. More information may be found in the individual station articles.

Station Line Title Artist Description Photo
College Hockey Knights in Canada Charles Pachter Two-part installation depicting the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs squaring off from opposite sides of the subway tracks, with the Canadiens on the northbound side and the Leafs on the southbound side. The station served the Maple Leaf Gardens when it was the main hockey arena in Toronto.
Downsview Park Spin Panya Clark Espinal Abstract circle-like figure viewable from a certain angle
Dundas Cross Section William McElcheran Terracotta tile murals, located by the northwest entrance and along the under-platform crosswalk, depicting a vibrant urban scene of pets, shoppers, businessmen and other commuters
Dupont Spadina Summer Under All Seasons James Sutherland Two flower mosaics using thousands of pieces of glass built directly into the station's tiling reaching upward into a mezzanine
Eglinton West Summertime Streetcar Gerald Zeldin Two enamel murals depicting PCC streetcars facing each other
Finch Crossroads Kseniya Tsoy Mural painted outside the east side entrance between Finch and Bishop avenues Photo not available
Rhythm of Exotic Plants Krystyna Sadowska Sculpture displayed on the lower concourse level, outside the fare-paid area
Finch West (untitled) Bruce McLean Sculptured concrete supporting columns
Glencairn Joy Rita Letendre Station-length skylight consisting of panes of art colours inserted between two glass panels
Highway 407 Sky Ellipse David Pearl Multi-coloured glass panels for the subway platform skylights and bus terminal façade
Lawrence West Spacing... Aerial Highways Claude Breeze Enamel tile mosaic depicting abstract wavy lines
Museum Decorative columns resembling the Egyptian god Osiris, First Nations house posts, Doric columns found in the Parthenon, China's Forbidden City columns, and Toltec warriors
North York Centre Top of the North Hill—1850s Nicholas and Susana Graven Mural made of over 5000 pieces of glazed ceramic tile, on the northbound platform
Traffic at Yonge and Sheppard—1860s Nicholas and Susana Graven Mural made of over 5000 pieces of glazed ceramic tile, on the southbound platform
Pioneer Village LightSpell Tim Edler and Jan Edler 40 ceiling-suspended chandeliers to display 8 interactively-entered characters; artwork installed but not yet activated due to the TTC's concerns about offensive language, which is prohibited according to the TTC's 2009 revision of its By-law #1.
Queen Our Nell John Boyle Painted murals at the platform level depicting Nellie McClung (a women's rights activist), William Lyon Mackenzie (first mayor of Toronto), and the former Simpson's and Eaton's department stores
Queen's Park Ana Vilel A ceramic tile mural, displayed in the mezzanine, donated by the Government of Portugal and inspired by Portuguese exploration of the New World
St. Clair West Tempo Gordon Rayner Enamel mural depicting abstract stripes
The Commuters Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky Many large bronze snails clinging to the walls of a staircase leading down from the streetcar/bus platform; inspired by a children's book by Pierre Berton. The shells of the snails consist of various items lost by commuters.
Sheppard West Boney Bus John McKinnon Abstract bus shape made from giant aluminum beams and basalt "wheels"; located in front of the station.
Sliding Pi Arlene Stamp Large-scale mosaic along the curved wall of the stairway between the bus platform and the mezzanine
Spadina Barren Ground Caribou Joyce Wieland Large quilt featuring caribou in a tundra landscape, located at the concourse level below the 85 Spadina Road entrance[1]
K'san Village House Posts Fedelia O'Brien, Murphy Green, Chuck Heit Large cedar wood carvings depicting an owl, a wolf and a hawk displayed on the ground level of the 6 Spadina Road entrance
Morning Glory Louis de Niverville Surreal enamel mural at the 85 Spadina Road entrance[2]
Union Zones of Immersion Stuart Reid 166 large glass panels along the length of the platform depicting sketches of commuters
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Atmospheric Lens Paul Raff Studio Coloured mirrored panels and windows located on the domed ceiling
Wilson Canyons Ted Bieler Wall sculpture located at the mezzanine level
York Mills Breaking Ground Laurie Swim Tapestry commemorating the 50th anniversary of a 1960 accident that killed five young Italian immigrant workers constructing a tunnel for a water main in Hoggs Hollow
York University Piston Effect Jason Bruges Studio Glass panels that provide a black and white lighting display when a train passes
Coxwell Forwards and Backwards Jennifer Davis and Jon Sasaki Three-dimensional sculpted curtain, cast in polished reflective aluminum
Dufferin Something Happens Here Eduardo Aquino and Karen Shanski Colourful mosaics with metallic tiles featuring local logos, icons and historical references
Kennedy A Sense of Place Frank Perna Mural painted on the service road entrance; half of the mural was destroyed when the entrance was demolished in 2018
Ossington Ossington Particles Scott Eunson 800 stick-on coloured acrylic tiles arranged in clusters near stairways on the platform and mezzanine levels; evocative of Garrison Creek.
Pape Source/
Derivations
Allan Harding MacKay Rectangular decorative panels on the platform and concourse levels depicting features of the station and of the neighbourhood
Runnymede Anonymous Somebody Elicser Elliott Depictions of people in Bloor West Village
Sherbourne The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts Rebecca Bayer Wall panels consisting of colourful mosaic ceramic tiles
Woodbine Directions Intersections Connections Marmin Borins Brightly coloured coated metal panels arranged in geometric patterns
Bayview From Here Right Now Panya Clark Espinal Shadows of common objects such as apples and ladders silk screened to the linoleum and walls framed by patches of coloured tile giving it a surreal look called trompe-l'œil[3][4]
Bessarion Passing Sylvie Bélanger Frieze of hands, feet, and backs of heads representing the users of the station with the images of heads at the platform level, feet at the concourse level, and hands along the stairs between the Sheppard Avenue north side entrance and the concourse
Don Mills Before / after: 1997 / 2002 Stephen Cruise Tilework on the concourse walls representing geologic strata with depictions of local flora and fauna
Bronze inlays in the terrazzo floor of the concourse and platform levels depicting fossils of fish, turtles, and leaves found on the site
Leslie Ampersand Micah Lexier 17,000 ceramic tiles each with the hand-written words "Sheppard" and "Leslie" separated by a printed ampersand
Sheppard–Yonge Immersion Land Stacey Spiegel Mosaic composed of 1.5 million one-inch tiles developed from a digitized and pixelated blend of 150 photographs depicting lush landscapes, country homes, and rural scenes stretching along Yonge Street

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Visitors to Toronto can see an example of her work by entering the Spadina subway station at 85 Spadina Road. The huge quilt titled "Barren Ground Caribou" which she produced in 1978 hangs there". Joyce Wieland. Northernstars. Archived from the original on 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
  2. ^ Eli McIlveen (March 17, 2010). "Art on the TTC". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  3. ^ McIlveen, Eli (December 17, 2006). "Art on the TTC". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  4. ^ Bow, James (April 18, 2007). "Subway Art by Serafin". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
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