Commerce Court gets a welcome dose of street art
Commerce Court has gotten noticeably brighter these last few days. The King and Bay office building, which houses CIBC and Deutsche Bank, now plays host to an exhibition of international street artists in its large granite lobby.
It's a striking contrast, but the choice of venue makes sense. The Discovery Exhibition is a fundraising event for Dixon Hall's Mill Centre, a program that teaches carpentry and home renovation skills to at-risk youth from selected Toronto neighbourhoods.The works will remain on display until May 5th, so there's plenty of time to see and/or buy them â and all proceeds from sales go directly to support of the Mill Centre.
Wondering how international street art, a downtown office building, and the Mill Centre all came together? Discovery is the brainchild of Well and Good, a Toronto-based curatorial duo who focus their efforts on community fundraising, outreach, and promoting mural production and public space advocacy.Their recent documentary Writing Toronto's (Hi)Story was screened at City Hall, and celebrated the contributions of seven Toronto street artists.
Featuring pieces donated from artists from Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, the exhibition is a great look at how international street artists are navigating the jump to canvas. The theme of "Discovery" is followed pretty loosely, with works ranging from abstracted graffiti tags to a vibrant portrait of David Lynch, but the execution is uniformly excellent, as is the cause.
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The Discovery Exhibition runs at Commerce Court until May 5. Dixon Hall's REBUILDING LIVES 2012 fundraiser is at the Mill Centre on May 16. For more details on both, check out Well & Good's website.
Photos by Scott Snider
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