Street Art Toronto: Graffiti Alley And More!
Mural of David Suzuki, science broadcaster and the host of CBC Television’s science program The Nature of Things. Artist unknown
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Toronto Street Art
If you’re looking for cities with a high concentration of Street Art, Toronto is hard to beat. Toronto, Ontario, Canada has one of the most vibrant street art scenes I have ever seen. It even boasts a whole half-mile area covered in urban art called Graffiti Alley. But it wasn’t always this way. In fact, Toronto has a history of hating street art.
Under Mayor Rob Ford there was a massive graffiti crack down. Many of the city’s murals were removed for being supposed eyesores. There were huge fines imposed for graffiti and murals and it was difficult for any artwork to last very long. But that all changed in 2012 with the adoption of the StreetArToronto program.
StreetARToronto (StART) is a program started by the City of Toronto in 2012 as a way to reduce graffiti vandalism by replacing it with creative murals and street art that engage the community and make a positive impact on the city. The program has helped immensely in shifting the city’s perspective of what graffiti can be. The program even works with kids to help get them involved with art and stay out of trouble by painting murals in Toronto. Needless to say, places around the city have become a lot more colorful.
Art by Skam 2
Where To Find Murals And Graffiti Art In Toronto, Canada
It’s pretty easy to find street art in Toronto. You can find a bevy of murals and graffiti surrounding Queen Street West, Kensington Market, Graffiti Alley, The Ossington Laneway, Underpass Park, and The Annex. To get the most bang for your buck, concentrate on Queen Street West and Graffiti Alley Downtown Toronto. This area has the highest concentration of street art as well as some of the best street art in Toronto. This saves you some time and stops you from making multiple trips around the city.
Art by Elicser Elliot
Should You Book A Street Art Tour Of Toronto Murals?
Sure, you could take a stroll through the Queens West area and Graffiti Alley yourself, but it’s well worth taking a guided tour. For just $6, plus tip, you can take this amazing Toronto Street Art Tour with The Tour Guys. The tour is on level ground with no hills and is easily wheelchair accessible. What’s so great about it? You’ll get an experienced guide who can tell you all about the artists and the area.
My guide was fantastic. I’ve taken many street art tours around the world, but this tour gave me a better insight into street art styles, the artists’ histories, and the political and social contexts of some of the works.
The small group tour (there were only 2 people on my tour) lasts about 90 minutes. You’ll have plenty of time to take great photos and ask questions. You may even win a nice prize for answering a street art quiz.
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408 Queen St. W. Art by Tom Dean
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Art by kids as part if the StART program.
Art by Uber5000
Famous Canadian Graffiti Artists
Uber5000 paints iconic yellow birds all over the city as well as massive, colorful murals. He’s also responsible for the “most Toronto mural ever,” or what he calls Toronto Tribute. Painted in 2017, it includes a ton of famous Toronto characters—Drake, former mayor Rob Ford, (whom you may remember for being in the news for his crack problem), music icon Gord Downie, and the Ikea Monkey.
Elicser Elliot paints some of the city’s best culture and political art. He captured the mood of 2020 with a powerful mural depicting police brutality against Black men. His work draws attention to allies, bystanders, and anxieties of the Black Lives Matter protests around the world.
Poser is a Toronto-based graffiti artist and large-scale muralist. He's been a full-time graffiti artist, working with the City of Toronto to organize and produce large-scale works. He’s known for creating impactful work through large-scale productions and trains. Poser is also known for his iconic bunny character, which can be spotted throughout Toronto.
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Art by Elicser Elliot
Art by Elicser Elliot
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Art by Greg Mike
Art by the StART program
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Art by Smug
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Art by @Onedaycreates and @Mostlyletters 482 Queen St. West, Toronto, ON
Queen West And Queen Street Art
The West Queen West neighborhood has a high concentration of Toronto street art and murals. If you walk down Queen Street West between Gladstone Avenue and Spadina Avenue, you’ll see lots of graffiti art right on Queen Street and on the side streets. A lot of the photos above were taken in this area. Best of all, it’s close to Graffiti Alley, so when you finish your walk through Queens West, you can pop into Graffiti Alley Toronto.
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Toronto Graffiti Alley
Covering over half a mile of space south of Queen Street West between Spadina Avenue and Portland Street, the alley is filled with amazing murals, graffiti, and yarn bombs from artists such as Uber5000, Skam, and Poser. Best of all, admission is free and the area is safe to explore. It’s also wheelchair accessible.
Art by Steep Daniels
Art by Horus
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Art by Bunso
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Art by Bunso
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Art by Uber5000
Art by Uber5000
Art by Uber5000
Art by Uber5000
Art by Uber5000
This wall was so magnificent I had to capture it in 3 different photos.
Artist unknown
This phonebook was part of an art installation where a blank journal was left tethered to the bottom with the instructions to write a true confession. The book was filled with people’s stories and later collected. Occasionally a new journal is placed by the phone.
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Art bt D Terra
Former Toronto Mayor and crack smoker, Rob Ford, running away with bags of cash.
Art by Uber5000
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Art by Poser
Art by Uber5000
Art By The Half Decent
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Art by Uber5000
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Art by Scam2
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Art by @FPMONKEY
Art by Poser
Art by @FPMONKEY
Art by @FPMONKEY
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Art by Bunso
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Art by @Mnsxm
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Art by Uber5000
Art by Uber5000
Art by Uber5000
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The Street Art In Toronto Is Incredible
I hope you’ve enjoyed my Street Art Toronto: Graffiti Alley And More guide. It was a little sad to tour all this amazing street art without my faithful doggy companion, Maddie, but alas, she doesn’t travel with me on my international travels. If you’d like to see more street art, most of which features the lovely Maddie, check out my guides to Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle, New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Athens, and Warsaw.
