Toronto subway public art

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
Cedarvale Summertime Streetcar Gerald Zeldin Enamel murals on opposite sides of the tracks depicting PCC streetcars
Super Signals Douglas Coupland Aluminum panels with brightly coloured concentric circles against a background of black and white diagonal lines
College Hockey Knights in Canada Charles Pachter Murals on opposite sides of the tracks depicting the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the Canadiens on the northbound side and the Leafs on the southbound side
Downsview Park Spin Panya Clark Espinal Anamorphic circular figures silkscreened onto the walls, floors, and ceilings
Dupont The Force that through the green fuse drives the flower James Sutherland Mural that depicts the role of plant life in shaping Earth's ecosystems; named after Dylan Thomas's poem of the same name
Miscellaneous Hardware Ron Baird Decorative gate to an electrical substation, inspired by caps on railway tank cars
Spadina Summer Under All Seasons James Sutherland Mosaics of flowers using thousands of pieces of glass built directly into the station's tiling
Eglinton Light from Within Rodney LaTourelle and Louise Witthöft Panel made of mirrored glass tiles, inspired by minerals, crystals, and gemstones
Finch Crossroads Kseniya Tsoy Mural painted outside the east side entrance between Finch and Bishop Avenues
Rhythm of Exotic Plants Krystyna Sadowska Abstract stainless steel sculpture
Finch West Bruce McLean Supporting columns made of sculptured concrete
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 North York Heritage Murals Nicholas and Susana Graven Murals made of over 10,000 pieces of glazed ceramic tile on the northbound and southbound platforms
Pioneer Village LightSpell Tim Edler and Jan Edler 40 ceiling-suspended chandeliers to display 8 interactively-entered characters; installed but not yet activated due to the TTC's concerns about offensive language
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
Sheppard West Boney Bus John McKinnon Abstract bus shape made from aluminum beams and basalt "wheels"
Dodecadandy Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins Sculpture adjacent to the station's emergency exit that represents a dandelion shedding its seeds
Sliding Pi Arlene Stamp Large-scale mosaic along the curved wall of the stairway between the bus platform and the mezzanine
Sheppard–Yonge Flocking Together Erika James and Jieun June Kim Aerosol and acrylic mural on the wall of the Harlandale entrance
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
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, and 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]
St. Clair West The Commuters Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky Several 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.
The Spirits of the Ancestral Trees Paula Gonzalez-Ossa Mural adorning the station's emergency exit
Tempo Gordon Rayner Enamel mural depicting abstract stripes
TMU City in Motion Asli Alin Mural depicting people, architecture, and public transit in downtown Toronto
Cross Section William McElcheran Terracotta tile murals depicting a vibrant urban scene of pets, shoppers, businessmen and other commuters
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
Daily Migration Shalak Attack, Edan Maxam, and Kseniya Tsoy Three murals located on the walls of the Tippett Road entrance and the corridor underneath Allen Road
The Guardians Shalak Attack Murals of four female gatekeepers that adorn the supportive columns beneath the station
Outside the Lines Christine Leu and Alan Webb Seven painted steel sculptures, inspired by air shows hosted at Downsview Airport
York Mills Breaking Ground Laurie Swim Tapestry commemorating the 50th anniversary of a 1960 accident that killed five Italian immigrant workers constructing a tunnel for a water main in Hoggs Hollow[3]
York University Piston Effect Jason Bruges Studio Glass panels that provide a black and white lighting display when a train passes
Castle Frank Earth Runs Wild Vivian Rosas Three-dimensional aluminium wall pieces depicting Pachamama flanked by earth and water motifs
Chester Florae Katharine Harvey Ceramic tile mosaics that depict plants and flowers indigenous to the nearby neighbourhoods and ravines
Coxwell Forwards and Backwards Jennifer Davis and Jon Sasaki Three-dimensional sculpted curtain, cast in polished reflective aluminum
Pods Through Time Cristina Delago Mural on the wall of the bus loop, divided into two sections representing the past and the future
Donlands Field April Hickox Photographic collage of wildflowers, plants, and trees native to the Toronto Islands
Dufferin Something Happens Here Eduardo Aquino and Karen Shanski Colourful mosaics with metallic tiles featuring local logos, icons and historical references
Kennedy Locations of Meaning Joseph Kosuth Tile wall with stainless steel inserts that spell out the word "meaning" in seventy-two different languages
Reorganization of One Hedge Dagmara Genda Photographs of hedge leaves printed on glass and light boxes
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
Victoria Park Roots Aniko Meszaros Laser-cut stainless steel screens with organic, root-like designs, casting shadows through a perforated canopy
Woodbine Directions Intersections Connections Jennifer Marman and Daniel 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[4][5]
Bessarion Passing Sylvie Bélanger Friezes representing the station's users, depicting heads at the platform, legs at the concourse, and hands along the stairways leading to the station entrances
Don Mills before/after Stephen Cruise Tilework and bronze inlays that represent the local geology, flora, and fauna
Northern Dancer Sculpture on the wall of an electrical substation that pays homage to the eponymous racehorse
Leslie Ampersand Micah Lexier 17,000 ceramic tiles, each inscribed with the hand-written words "Sheppard" and "Leslie" divided by a printed ampersand
Caledonia Ride of Your Life Janice Kerbel Wall pieces with text compositions in varying typefaces and sizes
Don Valley Total Lunar Eclipse Sarah Morris Wall painting composed of hand-silkscreened porcelain tiles
Mount Dennis Up to This Moment Hadley + Maxwell Video display that showcases changes to the Kodak Heights site
Sara Cwynar Brightly coloured, wall mural consisting of a collage of photographic images, digitally printed on layered glass panels.
Oakwood Assembly of Colour, Rhythm, and Form Nicholas Pye Large-scale photograph of pick-up sticks
Forest Hill a bird in the hand Vanessa Maltese Large-scale screenprinting of birds on a window

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. ^ Winsa, Patty (March 16, 2010). "Quilt unveiling marks 50 years since Hogg's Hollow disaster". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  4. ^ McIlveen, Eli (December 17, 2006). "Art on the TTC". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  5. ^ Bow, James (April 18, 2007). "Subway Art by Serafin". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
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