Passing by 687 Queen Street East (just west of Queen/Broadview) on December 17th, one couldn’t help but notice the graffiti artist installing a piece on the west wall. He was covering up the offensive graffiti that has been lingering on that wall since October. Turns out he’s from a group called Home Base Toronto – which sells graffiti inspired/decorated paraphernalia and custom art. They also do graffiti art projects across the city – like this new one in Riverside.
Upon a little investigation, we found that the City of Toronto and the building owner made an agreement to do graffiti art in lieu of graffiti removal. It’s part of a program where the City has pre-approved a number of graffiti artists, of which Homebase Toronto is one. This is under the City’s StART Support Mural Program and their motto is: “Inspiring neighbourhoods one wall at a time”.
Voila! The finished product:
