Tag Archives: Ontario

02.09.22
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SUNNYSIDE IS STILL MORE THAN AN AMUSEMENT PARK TO THIS VERY DAY. IT HAS A LONG HISTORY.

Sunnyside is a lakefront district in Toronto, Ontario. It includes a beach and park area along Lake Ontario’s Humber Bay, from west of Exhibition Place to the mouth of the Humber River. The area is within the traditional lands of several First Nations. It ran from 1922 to 1955, but was demolished in 1955 to facilitate the building of the Gardiner Expressway. The Expressway left behind several shoreline recreation uses from the era of the park, including the pool, beaches and sports clubs, all of which remain popular. . . . . . . First historic history – the landing for an 1813 attack resulting from the famous War of 1812. American troops attacked the ‘town of York’ then, now the city of Toronto. The site’s popularity grew as a summertime recreation area and from 1922 to 1955 the reclaimed land was home to popular Sunnyside Amusement Park (photo below), which ran all summers long. < The Boardwalk, 1931, below> 
11.10.21
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TORONTO’S OFFICIAL FLAG WAS DESIGNED IN 1974 BY 21-YEAR-OLD STUDENT, RENATO DE SANTIS

Renato De Santis, a graphic design student at George Brown College , won a 1974 competition among 670 entries, held by the City of Toronto Flag Design Committee.  A variation of this flag is used by Toronto Fire Services’ fireboat ‘William Lyon Mackenzie’. Mackenzie was a Scottish-born Canadian-American journalist and politician, who founded newspapers critical of elite members of Upper Canada, known as The Family Compact. He aligned with Reformers and represented York County in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada.

The flag <BELOW> displays the twin towers of City Hall on a blue background, with Canada’s red maple leaf from the national flag at its base.

03.08.20
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TORONTO TRIED IT & FLUNKED, AND NOW ITS HAMILTON’S TURN. I WISH YOU GOOD LUCK!

The city of HAMILTON, 45 miles southwest of TORONTO is taking on the litterers and graffiti spritzers, in a plan to clean things up.  Councllor BRAD CLARK says “it just seems odd that we’ve got thousands of people driving around who are city employees and they’re not noticing these things.” He wants to enlist all 8,000 city employees to start reporting on litter and graffiti.“We’ve got thousands who are in vehicles driving every single day.  If they see graffiti, if they see garbage bags piled up at the side of the road or in a ditch … why wouldn’t we direct staff to report them so the proper people can remove them?” Clark calls it having “eyes on HAMILTON.”Councillor Clark isn’t suggesting city workers should pick up illegally dumped garbage or erase graffiti themselves, unless that’s in their department.  He just wants them to alert the fellow employees who are responsible for this job.Former TORONTO mayor ROB FORD attempted a graffiti cleanup and failed.  TORONTO has roughly35,000 civic employees (union, non-union, part time, full time). That’s a force to be reckoned with. Maybe they could succeed, once the snow melts, and get rid of these eyesores.  If it works for HAMILTON, maybe it’ll work for us.  <PHOTOS – Toronto’s battle with graffiti>

02.21.20
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JANET MORTON KEPT ON KNITTING UNTIL SHE FINISHED A ‘TEA COZY’ FOR A REAL HOUSE

 I’m sure even GUELPH’s Janet Morton wasn’t convinced she could do it, but she did it. Janet is known for other unusual projects, including making neck warmers for giraffes and sweaters for plastic snakes. She also spent a week in a store window, knitting news of the day into a gigantic scarf-like document.If Javacheff Christo could wrap buildings and islands in plastic, then why not let yourself go? With a good supply of wool and knitting needles in hand, Janet’s cozy little house reached a unique level of contemporary art.

09.01.19
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CANADIAN IMPRESSIONIST ART DOES INDEED EXIST AND SOME OF IT’S ON TOUR IN EUROPE

Kunsthalle München, Kanada, Kanada und der Expressionismus, Vernissage, 18.7.2019.  The National Gallery of Canada is opening some eyes in MUNICH, as ‘Canada and Impressionism: New Horizons, 1880-1930’ has been installed at the Kunsthalle Munchen. Curiosity has led to lineups. < ABOVE – Lineup on  opening night, Kunsthalle Munich, photo – ‘Canadian Art’ magazine>

<Laura Muntz, ‘The Pink Dress’, 1897, oil on canvas, private collection, Toronto>  The National Gallery’s Senior Curator, KATERINA ATANASSOVA, said: “To me, this period is the most important period in the history of Canadian art.”<ABOVE – Clarence Gagnon, ‘Old Houses’, Baie-Saint-Paul, 1912, oil on canvas, private collection, Toronto>  Ms. Atanassaova said the Canadian style of Impressionism is different because of our northern climate. The light of Canada differs from the light one would find in a warm Mediterranean climate. Also, Canadian artists often had to work very quickly, because their fingers were in danger of freezing if they didn’t.<ABOVE – Helen McNicoll, ‘Sunny September’, 1913, oil on canvas, private collection, Toronto>  For the record – more than a thousand attended on opening night. ‘Canadian Impressionism’ will be on display in Munich until November 19th. Then it moves on to Lausanne, Switzerland, and from there to Montpellier, France. In the fall of 2020 the tour will come to an end at home base in Ottawa – then we’ll get to see it.