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The idea of the 'Outside the Box' program in terms of taking art and applying it to
something that has historically been problematic for us and making it something that is actually
a valued asset within a community is hugely important.
My box was just at the corner of Bloor and Bedford, right near the conservatory. As a result, the piece I chose to do there was 'Hands Playing Piano'.
The first project was 'Fireplace' and because you've got already a lot of 3D extensions, I naturally used them.
I wanted to do something that was playful, meshed into the environment...
I did 'Hands' and I thought hands were really important because they're so personable. People
are always extending their hands in gestures of friendship or speaking with their hands.
It's such a unique way to communicate.
My second project is 'Invisible'. The surroundings of this box are so beautiful, there is a water
fountain, some beautiful columns.
It's 'Bears in the Streets'. I think people totally get it. It's just a fun character,
an enjoyable, outlandishly coloured, little creature.
I think that it's cool for local artists to be able to display their art everywhere and
I think it's also cool to beautify the city. One of the coolest things is to walk down
the streets of Toronto and just look at everything, I think to have more to look at is excellent.
It makes it a livable city, a more livable city, people want to be outside.
Very accessible. It's right there. It's where they're standing, where they're crossing streets,
where they're drinking their coffee.
The delight that people have experienced in seeing these not very attractive pieces of
infrastructure suddenly enlivened with high quality street art by some of Toronto's best
street artists, has again been transformative.
The greatest thing about street art for me has been the surprise unexpected element that
you get in an otherwise totally ordinary day. There's a traffic box right by my house that
says the word 'smile' in big, bold, beautiful letters and I have to admit that every time
I walk by it I do smile.
I think the more art that's out there the more people are going to love it and accept
it and be so happy.
Even little improvements go a long way.
The costs for graffiti vandalism have gone down since StART and the new graffiti management plan.
It's a great thing, art should be everywhere. For the city to support this campaign and
get behind local artists is a wonderful thing.