Native Trees of Toronto

Artist(s): Jasmin Liu

Producer: StreetARToronto

Completed: 2018

Located at the intersection’s northeast corner, ‘Native Trees of Toronto’ displays 23 leaves from trees native to Toronto.

Jasmin painted the following trees’ leaves on her mural (listed as labelled): cottonwood, black maple, trembling aspen, white oak, silver maple, tamarack, tulip tree, blue beech, yellow birch, bur oak, white spruce, red pine, basswood, hemlock, hop hornbeam, white elm, sycamore, white pine, black oak, box elder/Manitoba maple, red cherry, large-toothed aspen, black cherry, red hawthorn, paper birch/white birch, red cedar, black ash, and white cedar. All leaves are painted their appropriate shade of green at their respective peak growing seasons, with a white border to ensure they stand out among the teal and orange backgrounds.

Artist’s statement: “Painting this street mural was a rewarding way of making work for members of the public who would typically not otherwise be engaged with art. A simple way of brightening up the neighbourhood while educating people about the different species of trees commonly found around Toronto. The design was inspired by botanical illustrations and includes footnotes that denote the names of the species depicted. My hope is for people to be more aware of the natural life that surrounds them, especially the unique species native to the local landscape, and in turn develop a greater appreciation and sense of reciprocity for the land we live on.”

Created for Outside the Box by StreetARToronto.

For More Information: see the artist's website.