I Love street art that’s done well and depicts the past, The above photo is a painted mural of so many of the Ice hockey superstars and greats who played their junior hockey in Oshawa Ontario for the Oshawa Generals, they played normally from the age of 16-19 in junior teams before they were drafted and selected to sign professionally .This is one of my favorites . Front and center you can see the Great Bobby Orr, who I had the pleasure of meeting and actually was his bodyguard for the afternoon while he signed his books at a Costco event. See Photo in this link to Hockey.
You can revisit my first post about street murals that I posted July of 2021 here
Above photo depicts the hard working men and women of the City of Oshawa. Oshawa is what you may call a Blue collar town. It still has the largest General Motors automobile manufacturing assembly plant in Canada and at one time had 3 plants in Oshawa. It is the largest city in Durham Region just east Of Toronto. There is only one plant left. Kudos to the hard working men and women of Oshawa.
The above next two photos are from both in a small seating rest area that is downtown Whitby Ont. I love the one from the kids when” I grow up”, remember these are hand painted by local artists.
I love this photo of The Residents Of Uxbridge On. giving a send off to the young men who were going to fight in World War 1. This art work and photo was taken some where around the 1920s, the building on the bottom right is still in use as a bank.
Hope you like these, and I encourage everyone to add their street art photos to this post. Lets keep this going.
You’re very lucky to have a city that invests in and supports artists, @TerryPG . This is a great post, and your photos show how public art can give character and history to a “small town.”
When I think of street art, I typically think of the taggers or graffiti artists that do their beautification of cities anonymously and, sometimes, selfishly. I am of the view that public space is public, and can be decorated as one sees fit. Nobody complains about seeing billboards or advertisements on any flat surface that can be leased out, so the same should be true of outdoor art.
But, when a community, public arts department, or businesses support artists by commissioning proper murals and displays, the art community is lifted up. Sometimes it can take a brave bureaucrat to say that the art community is important enough to be made as part of the area’s landscape. Though, I doubt there was any second thought to commemorating the Generals! These are true artists you’ve displayed here. The Oshawa Builders piece is stunning.
Businesses and blocks that come together with the understanding that a safe space for artists will bring beauty and foot traffic to areas that might otherwise be overlooked have a special role to play, too. Even if they don’t commision a piece, they allow for exposure and creativity. This happens at the Pow!Wow! Street Art Festival in Hawaii where I got the photo above. The art changes in the area, but is left to be enjoyed. I suggest a Street View tour down Cooke Street in Honolulu where this photo was taken.
One last one I took this year celebrating All Soul’s/Dia de los Muertos in Tucson, Arizona. I most definitely spotted this record store, even though it was off the beaten path!
@TerryPG , thank you for this series. I hope yours & @Mikeinthefalls posts get more guides from around the world to showcase how their city or town is decorated. There’s no language barrier in art!
Absolutely Great response @JustJake Glad to see someone else who can appreciate street art and Agree not Graffiti. Just to clarify these pics were from 5 different towns. And Jake thanks for adding your pics.
Side note last week I visited my brother In Midland Ont. I was shocked and delighted the whole downtown is full of mural art, (look for post next week). I saw the biggest street mural I have ever seen, It’s depicted on grain towers at the port, You cant possibly imagine how big this mural is, Because it’s winter time they had closed and locked up access to the port but I am coming back to take a pic of this.
and please guides add your street murals to this post. I encourage it
I love street murals @TerryPG and what great art works you have here!
When I was in NYC, I did crawl the street to take pictures of the murals. Many of them stay permanently and some are changed regularly. Many of them carry important messages as well. Here are two of the examples of the murals I enjoyed in Long Islands City, NYC, near my house at that time. Apologies for me being in the frame .
@TerryPG - You’ve put together quite the post, my friend! It’s no secret that I love a good mural and you’ve shared some amazing works with us. A couple of my favorites would be the hockey mural and the women of Bowmanville. The artist of the hockey mural did an excellent job of making me feel like I’m out in the ice with the other players and it’s game time! Their eyes are focused, cheeks are cold and there’s an energy of determination. The ladies on the tortoise are certainly eye catching and make for a great use of that brick wall. If those women could talk, the stories they’d share! I also love how you worked the payphone booth into the photo
Thank you @Mikeinthefalls I would love to see one day how the artists actually do this, They are painting and some spraying on uneven bricks and mortar, stucco, board and batten, and many other, exterior surfaces. Love to see how they do it.
Hey @hellocinthia , me parece que este post puede interesarte y puedes unirte a esta conversación. Estoy seguro que tienes fotografías que puedes compartir sobre el tema!
It’s always fascinating to see how small towns are preserving their culture and history through public art. The murals featured in this article are beautiful and truly capture the essence of the community. I love how these pieces of art not only add color and character to the town, but also serve as a way for residents and visitors to connect with the local history. Thanks for sharing @TerryPG !
@TerryPG Thanks for sharing these murals. It is fantastic to see high quality street art in small places.
Typically such great work are commonly found in the larger cities in which local government is investing in street art to promote tourism and gentrified neighbourhoods.
Living in London (UK) these have absolutely synonymous with some areas (Brick Lane, Shoreditch, Camden Town etc.) in which huge parts of the streets are covered with such art (and attract mass tourism).
During the last few years and especially the pandemic it seem that they have taken to many other boroughs as if these are a sign of community rejuvenation (alongside organic coffee shops, artisan bakeries etc.) and Dulwich, Hackney, Brixton, Bethnal Green and many other area seem to compete for talented street artists.
I spoke with few street artists as I catch them on route to office and it’s a fascinating process to get art to that scale (some are chatty and happy to talk while working and others prefer to be left in peace while working). Most of their work is now fully commissioned and actually can make proper living from their art (well deserved IMO).
Must be some Google Maps tool somewhere that is used to walk along some of these - I have seen many tourists trying to find a specific mural (yes, typically a not that impressive Banksy) as they walk around…
Love the photos of Street Art @abermans I have had the pleasure of visiting London a couple of times in my life many ,many years ago. Loved the one of Whitby street considering I posted a couple of pics from Whitby Ontario Canada.
You’ve started such a great conversation around street art and its meaning. I had to do a double take of the mural depicting the working men and women of Oshawa to ensure it’s all painted - the 3D effect is amazing.
I wonder of @AniaKiser has seen your post? I believe she’s got some great street art photography to share.
By the way, the Photography section seems to be a better fit for your post. That’s also where your previous collection of street art is, so I’ll change the topic label for you. Thank you!
Thanks for the kind words @DeniGu and you are right the photography section is a better fit. I encourage all local guides to add their local street art here.
Thank you @DeniGu for tagging me, I haven’t seen this post before.
@TerryPG I’m passionate about street art, you can check my posts here on Connect.I like there are people like you, who loves and appreciates street art as I do.
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