Henry Moore's Three Way Piece Number Two: Archer, better known simply as The Archer, is one of Toronto's best known pieces of art. This is party due to Moore's relationship to Toronto, as well as the controversy that surrounded the work. As many of us know, Finnish architect Viljo Revell won a competition in 1958 to design Toronto's new city hall and civic square. Revell was an admirer of Moore's work and wanted him to design something for the square. In 1964 he travelled to Moore's studio in England and chose The Archer.

This morning, the Toronto Entertainment District BIA unveiled their “Master Plan” to redevelop much of the downtown core. From Queen to the Gardiner, and from Spadina to Union Station, the BIA states their large transformation will be guided by several main principles; the preservation of historic buildings, the promotion of local businesses and tourism, and the enhancement of streetscapes, open areas, and livable pedestrian environments. Looking at the renderings, it's easy to agree with most of what's promised. However, the plan lacks in completely car free spaces, but does suggest creating several pedestrian friendly plazas, hinting at the following locations: • The south terminus of the proposed John Street Promenade. • The north side of Rogers Centre and the base of the CN Tower. • Along Bremner Boulevard between Navy Wharf Court and the Rogers Centre. • At the north and south entrances to Union Station. • At the north-west and south-west corners of Metro Square • Two potential small-scaled plazas associated with new developments at the north-west corner of John and Front Streets and on Nelson Street between Duncan and Simcoe Streets. John Street rendering

This statue stands outside the Kelly Library at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. It was unveiled on June 6th 1973 and was made of plastic and fibreglass, but a few years later was sent to Italy to be bronzed. As stated in an earlier post , McElcheran (1927-1999) was born in Hamilton and as a young man received a scholarship to attend the Ontario College of Art. In 1948 he graduated at the top of his class and was ...

This magnificent piece of art is located in Little Norway Park and has an extraordinary story behind it's creation. In celebration of the work, the Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association and some of the artists involved with its creation are holding an event in the park this Wednesday June 3rd at 6:45 p.m.  From the media advisory: The Dreamwork of the Whales was conceived and produced by the Ne Chi Zu Works, a group of Toronto-born artists living in Vancouver. The first creative seed was planted in late 1979 when two of the artists were back home in Toronto and visited the new Harbourfront Contemporary Art Gallery. While viewing the exhibit, they were overheard commenting about the quality of the art on display by an American artist: "We've got better Canadian artists than this, why aren't they showing some of their stuff?" The gallery manager struck up a conversation, and before long the two artists left with a cheque for the seed money to get the project started!

This piece of public art is a bit of a mystery. It does not have a plaque displaying the name of the artist or title, which makes its origins difficult to research. I would hesitate to classify this as "graffiti", as that form of expression has almost always taken the form of lettering, sketching, or painting onto a hard surface. I would also refrain from calling it "installation art" as it doesn't attempt to transform the park, or the public space that surrounds the piece. That the wolf has lasted ten years ...

This is another piece of art located at the University of Toronto that's easy to miss.  "Nurture Nature" by Joe Fafard is located on a walkway at the East side of Hart house that sees little foot traffic. It's seclusion and lovely benches makes it a great place for a picnic, or for a bit of reading. From Nouveaugallery.com : Joe Fafard was born in Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan in 1942. He attended the University of Manitoba

  "Katyn Monument" by artist Tadeusz Janowski is located on the west side of town where King Street West becomes Roncesvalles Ave and Queen Street West becomes The Queensway.  Located in a largely Eastern European neighbourhood, the large stone structure with a crack running through its centre initially led me to believe it was a tribute to the destruction of the Berlin wall. Upon further investigation I found that it was nothing of the sort. The inscription on its side reads "In remembrance of fifteen thousand Polish prisoners of war who vanished in 1940 from the camps in USSR at Kozelsk, Ostashkov, Starobelsk. Of these over four thousand were later discovered in mass graves at Katyn, near Smolensk, murdered by the Soviet state security police." There are several monuments to the Katyn Massacre through out the world. The Wikipedia entry into the massacre can be found here, and an excellent article about the monument's original font by Torontoist contributor Jake Bauming can be found here.  The Toronto monument is made of bronze and was erected in 1980.

The "Alfred Purdy Memorial" was created by Edwin and Veronica Dam de Nogales, and is located at the North-East corner of Queen's Park. It is made from bronze and was erected in 2008. Purdy, who died in 2000 at the age of 82, was a member of the Order of Canada and a two-time winner of the Governor General's Award for his collections of poetry. In 2001, husband-and-wife sculptors Edwin and Veronica Dam de Nogales of Highgate, Ont., were hired by art philanthropist Scott Griffin and poet Dennis Lee to create a statue.

The first time I saw Parkdale's new bike posts, or "bike rack sculptures" according to their creators, I immediately though how boring and unoriginal the ring and post models were. Why didn't city officials create something interesting in the first place? Since the Parkdale posts have gone up several others have sprouted elsewhere in the city. From the original Parkdale BIA press release in April 2007: Along with crocuses, roses and tulips that are emerging in gardens across Toronto, a crop of unique and functional public art is springing up in Parkdale. 

The University of Toronto boasts a large collection of public art and "Businessman on a Horse" by William McElcheran might be one of the most difficult to find. It is tucked into a small square at St. Michael's College and is the perfect spot for a picnic. It is made of Bronze and was erected in 1989. From the City of Calgary website: "McElcheran said his businessmen replace the classical hero. Instead of dealing with heroic imagery, he endeavoured to find his idea of the ‘larger-than-life' in the non-hero. Conversation grew in his mind as he watched the ‘fat cats' wheel and deal on the corner of Bay and King Streets in Toronto."