Music & Community Mural

website: bloorcourt.com

During my presence as TheStoreFront with an empty storefront at 957 dedicated to community building, in September 2008 a graffiti mural in the nieghbourhood was buffed by the City after a complaint was made by an anonymous person to the councillor's office. My defense for the mural and support for the property owner put me in a big dilemma. That's when I stepped on the road of understanding graffiti culture from the angles of the artists, the public and politicians. The further I walked down this intriguing road, the harder it became for me to take a stance in acting towards this issue of public art and a reformist urban culture. I began to see the whole spectrum by respecting all angles.

After this very heated debate that was even featured on the front cover of the Toronto SUN, I was prepared to organize another mural to be painted on the wall of 955 Bloor West with much encouragement from the owner and community members who were drawn to my StoreFront innitiative. I took my time in trying to arrange some sort of a collaborative event to accomplish my mission which ended up falling through.

One day in March 2009 I came across Funktion Gallery near Lansdowne and was immediately drawn in by the raw talent of the young artists who had organized an impressive mural painting festival the previous summer which had caught my attention. After quickly forming a strong bond with the collective, I was notified of an approaching City mural grant deadline and was requested to help out.

It just seemed to me that everything was clicking. I had taken on the position of Project Administrator in the same month for the stagnant Bloorcourt BIA (created with me in mind) after having caught their attention over the last year I spent in the neighbourhood. I was respected as someone who would get things done for the best interest of the community. I applied to the grant through the Bloorcourt BIA with sketches from Funktion Gallery's Come Unity festival, a combination that won over the City's department. I followed their guidelines and took care of the logistics. It became a project that I had to direct since I applied to the grant through the BIA. Oh boy, what a drama this whole thing was. You know what I'm talking about if you were involved in my quest to get this mural painted and the money sent through.

I was notified that I had received the grant a few weeks later. (First grant I've ever scored!) After some wise thinking I decided to change the wall from 957 to Long & McQuade at 935 (mainly because the two other owners I approached did not show interest in the project). I did not want to face any further issues with the content of the piece that was to be under a City grant through the BIA, especially after having faced a battle of property ownership and politics. After extensive and exhausting middle-woman legwork I managed to negotiate and secure the painting of a well funded mural with the leadership a keen and young artist (Jason Pinney) who took on the burden of satisfying all parties - myself included - with getting the next steps done.

Hope this brings a new light to the community. Satisfying everybody is impossible but getting the job done is possible with patience and cooperation.

I chose Long & McQuade to build on the strategy I believe will work for this neighbourhood. It's all about building on strengths and letting its energy create a unique identity. Music and art brings people together. Maybe that's why it worked out in the end, even through all the beurocracy that existed. For the love of music.