Toronto subway public art

Last updated April 02, 2024

This article catalogues public art on the Toronto subway. It lists public art installed at Toronto subway stations by subway line and station. More information may be found in the individual station articles.

Station	Title	Artist	Description	Photo
College	Hockey Knights in Canada	Charles Pachter	Two-part installation depicting the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs squaring off from opposite sides of the subway tracks, with the Canadiens on the northbound side and the Leafs on the southbound side. The station served the Maple Leaf Gardens when it was the main hockey arena in Toronto.
Downsview Park	Spin	Panya Clark Espinal	Abstract circle-like figure viewable from a certain angle
Dundas	Cross Section	William McElcheran	Terracotta tile murals, located by the northwest entrance and along the under-platform crosswalk, depicting a vibrant urban scene of pets, shoppers, businessmen and other commuters
Dupont	Spadina Summer Under All Seasons	James Sutherland	Two flower mosaics using thousands of pieces of glass built directly into the station's tiling reaching upward into a mezzanine
Eglinton West	Summertime Streetcar	Gerald Zeldin	Two enamel murals depicting PCC streetcars facing each other
Finch	Crossroads	Kseniya Tsoy	Mural painted outside the east side entrance between Finch and Bishop avenues	Photo not available
Finch	Rhythm of Exotic Plants	Krystyna Sadowska	Sculpture displayed on the lower concourse level, outside the fare-paid area
Finch West	(untitled)	Bruce McLean	Sculptured concrete supporting columns
Glencairn	Joy	Rita Letendre	Station-length skylight consisting of panes of art colours inserted between two glass panels
Highway 407	Sky Ellipse	David Pearl	Multi-coloured glass panels for the subway platform skylights and bus terminal façade
Lawrence West	Spacing... Aerial Highways	Claude Breeze	Enamel tile mosaic depicting abstract wavy lines
Museum			Decorative columns resembling the Egyptian god Osiris, First Nations house posts, Doric columns found in the Parthenon, China's Forbidden City columns, and Toltec warriors
North York Centre	Top of the North Hill—1850s	Nicholas and Susana Graven	Mural made of over 5000 pieces of glazed ceramic tile, on the northbound platform
North York Centre	Traffic at Yonge and Sheppard—1860s	Nicholas and Susana Graven	Mural made of over 5000 pieces of glazed ceramic tile, on the southbound platform
Pioneer Village	LightSpell	Tim Edler and Jan Edler	40 ceiling-suspended chandeliers to display 8 interactively-entered characters; artwork installed but not yet activated due to the TTC's concerns about offensive language, which is prohibited according to the TTC's 2009 revision of its By-law #1.
Queen	Our Nell	John Boyle	Painted murals at the platform level depicting Nellie McClung (a women's rights activist), William Lyon Mackenzie (first mayor of Toronto), and the former Simpson's and Eaton's department stores
Queen's Park		Ana Vilel	A ceramic tile mural, displayed in the mezzanine, donated by the Government of Portugal and inspired by Portuguese exploration of the New World
St. Clair West	Tempo	Gordon Rayner	Enamel mural depicting abstract stripes
St. Clair West	The Commuters	Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky	Many large bronze snails clinging to the walls of a staircase leading down from the streetcar/bus platform; inspired by a children's book by Pierre Berton. The shells of the snails consist of various items lost by commuters.
Sheppard West	Boney Bus	John McKinnon	Abstract bus shape made from giant aluminum beams and basalt "wheels"; located in front of the station.
Sheppard West	Sliding Pi	Arlene Stamp	Large-scale mosaic along the curved wall of the stairway between the bus platform and the mezzanine
Spadina	Barren Ground Caribou	Joyce Wieland	Large quilt featuring caribou in a tundra landscape, located at the concourse level below the 85 Spadina Road entrance^[1]
	K'san Village House Posts	Fedelia O'Brien, Murphy Green, Chuck Heit	Large cedar wood carvings depicting an owl, a wolf and a hawk displayed on the ground level of the 6 Spadina Road entrance
	Morning Glory	Louis de Niverville	Surreal enamel mural at the 85 Spadina Road entrance^[2]
Union	Zones of Immersion	Stuart Reid	166 large glass panels along the length of the platform depicting sketches of commuters
Vaughan Metropolitan Centre	Atmospheric Lens	Paul Raff Studio	Coloured mirrored panels and windows located on the domed ceiling
Wilson	Canyons	Ted Bieler	Wall sculpture located at the mezzanine level
York Mills	Breaking Ground	Laurie Swim	Tapestry commemorating the 50th anniversary of a 1960 accident that killed five young Italian immigrant workers constructing a tunnel for a water main in Hoggs Hollow
York University	Piston Effect	Jason Bruges Studio	Glass panels that provide a black and white lighting display when a train passes
Coxwell	Forwards and Backwards	Jennifer Davis and Jon Sasaki	Three-dimensional sculpted curtain, cast in polished reflective aluminum
Dufferin	Something Happens Here	Eduardo Aquino and Karen Shanski	Colourful mosaics with metallic tiles featuring local logos, icons and historical references
Kennedy	A Sense of Place	Frank Perna	Mural painted on the service road entrance; half of the mural was destroyed when the entrance was demolished in 2018
Ossington	Ossington Particles	Scott Eunson	800 stick-on coloured acrylic tiles arranged in clusters near stairways on the platform and mezzanine levels; evocative of Garrison Creek.
Pape	Source/ Derivations	Allan Harding MacKay	Rectangular decorative panels on the platform and concourse levels depicting features of the station and of the neighbourhood
Runnymede	Anonymous Somebody	Elicser Elliott	Depictions of people in Bloor West Village
Sherbourne	The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts	Rebecca Bayer	Wall panels consisting of colourful mosaic ceramic tiles
Woodbine	Directions Intersections Connections	Marmin Borins	Brightly coloured coated metal panels arranged in geometric patterns
Bayview	From Here Right Now	Panya Clark Espinal	Shadows of common objects such as apples and ladders silk screened to the linoleum and walls framed by patches of coloured tile giving it a surreal look called trompe-l'œil ^[3]^[4]
Bessarion	Passing	Sylvie Bélanger	Frieze of hands, feet, and backs of heads representing the users of the station with the images of heads at the platform level, feet at the concourse level, and hands along the stairs between the Sheppard Avenue north side entrance and the concourse
Don Mills	Before / after: 1997 / 2002	Stephen Cruise	Tilework on the concourse walls representing geologic strata with depictions of local flora and fauna
Don Mills	Before / after: 1997 / 2002	Stephen Cruise	Bronze inlays in the terrazzo floor of the concourse and platform levels depicting fossils of fish, turtles, and leaves found on the site
Leslie	Ampersand	Micah Lexier	17,000 ceramic tiles each with the hand-written words "Sheppard" and "Leslie" separated by a printed ampersand
Sheppard–Yonge	Immersion Land	Stacey Spiegel	Mosaic composed of 1.5 million one-inch tiles developed from a digitized and pixelated blend of 150 photographs depicting lush landscapes, country homes, and rural scenes stretching along Yonge Street

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Dupont is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Spadina Road at Dupont Street in The Annex neighbourhood of the city. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.

Spadina is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University and Line 2 Bloor–Danforth in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Spadina Road, north of Bloor Street West. It is one of only three stations open overnight, along with Highway 407 and Union station. Wi-Fi service is available at this station.

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Finch West is a subway station on the Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway. It is located under Keele Street, north of Finch Avenue West. When Line 6 Finch West opens in the fourth quarter of 2024, it will serve as the eastern terminus of that line.

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Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is a rapid transit station in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Opened on December 17, 2017, it is the north terminus of the western section of the Toronto subway's Line 1 Yonge–University. It is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and is one of two subway stations in the system outside of Toronto's city limits. It provides connections to a York Region Transit (YRT) Viva bus rapid transit route along the Highway 7 Rapidway, which is also used by a Brampton Transit Züm route, as well as several local YRT bus routes.

Transit City was a plan for developing public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first proposed and announced on 16 March 2007 by Toronto mayor David Miller and Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) chair Adam Giambrone. The plan called for the construction of seven new light rail lines along the streets of seven priority transit corridors, which would have eventually been integrated with existing rapid transit, streetcar, and bus routes. Other transit improvements outlined in the plan included upgrading and extending the Scarborough RT line, implementing new bus rapid transit lines, and improving frequency and timing of 21 key bus routes. The plan integrated public transportation objectives outlined in the City of Toronto Official Plan, the TTC Ridership Growth Strategy and Miller's 2006 election platform.

The Toronto Rocket (TR) is the fifth and latest series of rolling stock used in the Toronto subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned and operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), the trains were built by Bombardier Transportation in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to replace the last remaining H-series trains, as well as increase capacity for the Spadina subway extension to Vaughan that opened in 2017. They operate in a six-car configuration on Line 1 Yonge–University and a four-car configuration on Line 4 Sheppard. The sets are stored and maintained at the Wilson and Davisville Yards. The first six-car TR train entered passenger service on Line 1 in July 2011, and four-car TR trainsets entered service on Line 4 in May 2016.

References

↑ "Visitors to Toronto can see an example of her work by entering the Spadina subway station at 85 Spadina Road. The huge quilt titled "Barren Ground Caribou" which she produced in 1978 hangs there". Joyce Wieland. Northernstars. Archived from the original on 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
↑ Eli McIlveen (March 17, 2010). "Art on the TTC". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
↑ McIlveen, Eli (December 17, 2006). "Art on the TTC". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
↑ Bow, James (April 18, 2007). "Subway Art by Serafin". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.

External links

Media related to Art in the Toronto subway at Wikimedia Commons
Art on the TTC published by Transit Toronto

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[Wieland-1] "Visitors to Toronto can see an example of her work by entering the Spadina subway station at 85 Spadina Road. The huge quilt titled "Barren Ground Caribou" which she produced in 1978 hangs there". Joyce Wieland. Northernstars. Archived from the original on 2011-09-11. Retrieved 2012-01-31.

[Art_on_the_TTC-2] Eli McIlveen (March 17, 2010). "Art on the TTC". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2012-01-01.

[3] McIlveen, Eli (December 17, 2006). "Art on the TTC". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.

[4] Bow, James (April 18, 2007). "Subway Art by Serafin". Transit Toronto. Retrieved 2007-07-21.

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v t e Toronto Transit Commission
Bus	Blue Night Network Routes Wheel-Trans York University Busway
Subway	Yonge–University Bloor–Danforth Sheppard Eglinton Finch West Ontario Line Public art Rolling stock Signals Stations Trackage
Streetcars	501 Queen 503 Kingston Rd 504 King 505 Dundas 506 Carlton 507 Long Branch 508 Lake Shore 509 Harbourfront 510 Spadina 511 Bathurst 512 St. Clair King Street Transit Priority Corridor Loops Rolling stock
History	Incidents Queen subway line Eglinton West line Relief Line Network 2011 Gray Coach Toronto Coach Terminal Sunnyside Bus Terminal 1995 Russell Hill subway accident 2006 strike 2008 strike 502 Downtowner 514 Cherry 521 Exhibition East 522 Exhibition West Scarborough Transit City St. Clair Carhouse Toronto-gauge railways
Predecessors	Williams Omnibus Bus Line (1849–1862) Toronto Street Railway (1861–1891) Metropolitan Street Railway (1885–1904) Toronto Railway Company (1891–1921) Toronto and York Radial Railway (1904–1922) Toronto Civic Railways (1912–1921) Toronto Transportation Commission (1921–1953) Hydro-Electric Railways (1922–1927)
Facilities	Davisville Yard Eglinton MSF Greenwood Yard Hillcrest Complex Keele Yard Leslie Barns McCowan Yard Roncesvalles Carhouse Russell Carhouse William McBrien Building Wilson Yard
Proposed	Don Mills LRT East Bayfront LRT Eglinton East LRT Jane LRT Waterfront West LRT
Miscellaneous	Accessibility Fares Font Metrolinx Personnel Transit Enforcement Unit
Italics indicate a project under construction

Toronto subway public art

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See also

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References

External links