After fight at City Hall, artists get their first road mural at Kensington Market
A proposal to legalize road murals didn’t pass council, but a pilot project allowing a few of them this fall is sowing the seeds of a colourful idea.

thestar.com
By Oliver Sachgau
Aug. 28, 2016

You wouldn’t think the colourful paint that was being slathered on Baldwin St. would be controversial in any way.

But the road mural painted in Kensington Market on Sunday is the first of its kind in the city, and comes after a long fight between community activists and city staff.

The mural is part of a pilot project whereby the city is tentatively allowing five streets to be painted between now and October. The Kensington Market mural is the first, and a collaboration between artists, activists and the Kensington Market BIA.

The theme of the Kensington mural is fresh food - something organizer Stas Ukhanov said represents the market’s roots.

“We really wanted to reinforce fresh produce and groceries in Kensington Market. It’s what makes the market this great place,” he said.

The style of the art was meant to be partly iconographic, like computer symbols, said artist Victor Fraser, who stenciled all the paintings and painted several.

“A lot of people work on the computer, and they don’t realize the reality of reality, so I tried to represent their computer styles, which is very choppy, crisp, and hard, and that’s the best way to have vegetables,” he said.

The mural comes after some headache for the artists. Earlier this year, City staff recommended against legalizing street murals, saying they “place considerable administrative, regulatory, and maintenance burdens on the city.”

Instead, a pilot project was voted in, and four more murals could join the Kensington one later this year.

The latex paint will be able to weather the elements and foot traffic for six to nine months, Ukhanov said. After that, the community will either re-touch it, or start fresh with a new painting.

“The whole idea is that it’s very community based, it’s very local, and it’s something the community can be proud of,” he said.