My project, located at the Silverthorn streetcar stop on St. Clair, is part of a multi-artist public art installation on St. Clair Avenue in Toronto. The work was chosen through a competition for artworks for the transit shelters located on a new right-of-way for streetcars recently constructed on this major Toronto street. The work is meant to reference the importantance of the streetcar to the development of St. Clair, both historically and currently.

My four panels are comprised of six images that form an overall arc of streetcar tracks. The images themselves are drawn from the City of Toronto Archives' Toronto Transit Commission holdings and depict various moments of earlier labour on this street - track repair and construction along St. Clair in the 1920s. The "transitions" between two images in Panels 1 and 3 (as read left to right above) refer to a golden age of cinema along St. Clair, which, until the 1970s, was home to a large number of movie theatres, making it a vital destination.

The closing of the theatres was the beginning of a period of severe decline for this street. The St. Clair right-of-way project, begun in the early 2000s, was combined with an ambitious program of streetscape improvement (of which the public art component is an important part), and is currently leading to a revival of the street's fortunes. Also part of the renewal of St. Clair is the stunning Wychwood Barns renovation near Christie & St. Clair spearheaded by Artscape and Councillor Joe Mihevc. Well worth a visit these days!

To see a detailed panel view click here or on images below.