Image depicts a mosaic heart on a planter. The heart is filled with birds sitting on branches behind a blue and purple background with a 'Willowdale Ave' sign in the middle.

Willowdale Mosaic Mural Project

The Willowdale Mosaic Mural Project was created in 2022-2023, featuring 19 mosaic heart murals installed on planters on the West side of Yonge Street, between North York Boulevard (north) and Upper Madison Avenue (south). Each heart depicts a reason why the community loves Willowdale, which was determined by the local community who were engaged in the design process in a variety of ways. In Willowdale, the heart shape is considered an artistic and cultural symbol, and is deeply connected to its history – small copper hearts are even embedded on the sidewalks. This mosaic mural aims to celebrate the area and contribute to the revival of the local economy which has suffered deeply due to the COVID pandemic.

Natural Connections

Natural Connections

An interactive ground mural that features a pattern map inspired by an aerial map of park trails and waterways in the Midtown Yonge area–from Sherwood Park, to Oriole, and the Beltline, as well as three lines connecting native plants to their respective pollinators.

Created as a part of the Midtown Yonge BIA Connects! Through Community Animation and Art program.

Five murals displayed on a sunny day at the Toronto Zoo. The murals are of realistically painted individuals emerging from pink, purple and blue flowers, as well as abstractly painted shrubbery.

In Our Nature

*Please note: this was a temporary mural installation.
In our Nature is a community-minded multidisciplinary public art project that celebrates Women of Colour in the Scarborough community through five mural panel installations and musical performances. The murals will spotlight BIPOC women in Scarborough, who are active in community work, and feature them in a green space, changing the narrative around this group’s access, perceived safety and sense of belonging in public spaces. The artwork will purposefully degrade over time to reveal the underset images of the featured individuals beneath the greenery – their faces will be seen emerging from the ground. This is a 2021 City of Toronto Cultural Hotspot Signature Project in partnership with Mural Routes, the E.W.O.C. Project, the Community Arts Guild and the Toronto Zoo.

Twenty-nine square, multicoloured mosaics.

Scarborough Seniors Mosaic Mural Project

Thanks to a Government of Ontario Seniors Community grant, 27 Older Adults (55+) and Seniors (65+) living in Scarborough developed mural-making skills with experienced mosaic mural artist Cristina Delago. As part of the program, delivered virtually, each participant created a mosaic panel to contribute to this large community mural project on the theme of gratitude. During the unprecedented times of Covid-19 lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, participants shared what they were grateful for throughout the workshops. Using the time together to heal and bond through the creative process of mosaic-making, those involved in the workshops developed a sense of community and felt very connected in a time of physical isolation.

A mural of the name 'Burlington' written in capital letters using white and blue paints, weaving between multicoloured flowers, birds and vines.

ODE TO BELONGING

Lamenza Corporation, a social purpose real estate company based in Mississauga, and Mural Routes partnered to produce a mural at 4325 Harvester Road in Burlington in the summer 2021.
The theme of the mural was imagining and building an equal, diverse and inclusive city.

A mural featuring a horse pulling a red and white covered wagon bearing the name 'Everest and Sons Grocers'. A man in a large-brimmed hat sits on the covered wagon, while another man walks away from the wagon holding one box in each hand. The horse and wagon is waiting on an unpaved road by a wheat field in front of a green hedge with flowers, which extends into a hilly and tree-lined terrain. A child stands beside the horse presenting it a flower. Another child and figure in period-typical clothing wait at a gate that separates the hedge.

Horse-Drawn Delivery Wagon

When Scarborough consisted mostly of farms, orchards and scattered villages, horse-drawn delivery wagons were a common sight. The Everest family operated the delivery service for a wide area around Scarborough Junction and included Cliffside in their rounds. The family business is still represented in Cliffside by Everest’s Hardware store on Kingston Road.

A four-paneled mural meeting at an Ancient-Greek style bust head. Moving clockwise, the panels show: graffiti-style lettering; contemporary art, including cubism and abstract style; cave paintings, and Renaissance-inspired art.

The Stages of Art

Using the input and suggestions of community members, the artists developed a concept and ultimately created a mural depicting the stages of art. This mural depicts western prehistoric people first murals, a Greco-Roman sculpture, baroque and impressionist pieces and graffiti.

A hyperrealistic mural of an older figure, complete with wrinkles and glasses, staring intently at the observer.

Grow old with me

Grow old with me, the best is yet to be, Underpass Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The “Mural Routes, Multipli’city Project” is a project to revitalize and brighten up urban underpasses to encourage public community engagement and make areas safer for the Toronto community. For this project the artists elected to represent age diversity in urban environments, celebrating the elderly who help shape communities and lives as the wise story-tellers and most experienced members of society. Lacey and Layla’s mural is a celebration of ageing, and a reminder that with age and experience comes to a new joy and sense of humour the redefines the expression young at heart. Lacey and Layla Art (LALA)

A mural depicting figures dancing, picnicking, playing beach volleyball, walking their dog, preparing to paddleboard and enjoying ice cream on a bench.

Beaches Foodland Mural

This design uses a realistic scenic approach. It references the Jazz Festival with the couple dancing in front of the Kew Gardens Gazebo where concerts are held, and the active lifestyle of residents and visitors who enjoy the beach, board walk and surrounding parks. Other landmarks are the Leuty Lifeguard Station and the boardwalk with a view of the Toronto skyline.

An abstract, contemporary mural painted under a bridge, showing a futuristic, abstract cohesion of modes of transportation, gadgetry and other shapes.

INTEROH GALE

“Interoh” means “entering into” or “gateway” and “Gale” defines “a very strong wind”. The ‘INTEROH GALE’ mural illustrates a gateway to a sustainable future by using renewable resources, such as wind.

The mural artwork’s theme addresses the idea of sustainability and the complicated relationship between the environment, nature, urban industry, and ever-expanding city infrastructure. The mural specifically addresses the need to preserve green spaces and develop systems and policies that will keep our city and communities sustainable as the City of Toronto continues to grow and develop at a rapid rate.

A mural made of twenty affixed, multi-coloured birds, spaced apart on a wall.

Legacy in Motion

This mural was designed and created from May 15th to July 15th, 2018 as a SPARK project of the Cultural Hotspot, produced in partnership with the City of Toronto and supported by a StreetARToronto Partnership Program grant. ‘Legacy in Motion’ began with an Introduction to Mural Art program, held at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto.
Congratulations to Rob Matejka and artists Leyland Adams, Joefrey Anthony Cabalu, Mel Coleman, Banafsheh Erfanian, Siddarth Khaire, Raoul Olou, Menelik Powell, Kareen Weir and thanks to all volunteers.