Leslieville’s Muir mural gets a facelift
Students made a mark with first version 12 years ago; new version freshens and tinkers.

thestar.com
By David Rider
Sept. 15, 2016

Leslieville’s famed mural is dead. Long live Leslieville’s famed mural.

Residents, merchants, and business leaders of the downtown east-end neighbourhood gathered Thursday to applaud the new street art on the wall of a shop at the northeast corner of Jones Ave. and Queen St. E.

They snapped photos of the big depiction of neighbourhood pioneer Alexander Muir, sitting under a famous maple tree. They smiled, they lined up to chat with artist Elicser Elliott and they munched on free pizza.

But replacing the previous mural, which depicted Muir - who composed “The Maple Leaf Forever” in 1867 - and quickly became synonymous with the gentrifying district, almost took a very different turn.

Building owner Andrew Elia, who about 12 years ago agreed to let some students from nearby Ralph Thornton Centre paint the first mural, knew the crumbling wall needed fixing. The peeling paint was tough to match and people kept changing Muir to look like the Joker or Adolf Hitler.

Elia agreed to let an artist replace it with a new vision. That vision was Ashbridges Bay in its original marshy form.

Councillor Paula Fletcher saw the design, done with a city grant, and raised the alarm. “It was very nice but it was essentially a swamp and I said ‘The community will not be happy if we just go ahead and paint this over a beloved, iconic piece of art,” she said.

Elia was skeptical people would care but agreed to a process, conducted through the city’s StreetARToronto program, that saw three designs subjected to community consultation and a winner chosen

“She was right,” he says now. “A lot of people loved the old mural and if we had just put up a new one, the crap would have hit the fan.”

The old work featured the tree across the street that inspired “The Maple Leaf Forever,” which was a contender to become Canada’s anthem, and Leslieville’s name printed in stylized lettering on a warm yellow backdrop.

The new one, designed with cues from residents’ submissions, features Muir sitting under the tree, a pencil behind his ear, apparently seeking inspiration.

The lettering, full of flourish, is similar to those in the original, as are the colours. Muir’s face is now high enough that only a very determined graffiti artist could reach it.

“Leslieville needed a fresh outlook on the landmark,” said the artist, who goes by Elicser. “It’s hard to let go of nostalgia but we did our best to improve it.”

Fletcher approves. “This is still Alexander Muir, the composer and first principal of Leslieville School, but he’s updated - he’s kind of hip looking,” she said.

The process was educational for the five-year-old StreetARToronto program, which has helped enliven neighbourhoods across the city, said project manager Lilie Zendel.

“Street art is by nature ephemeral, we think five years is usually going to be the lifespan, so we can use this as a model of how to say to a community: ‘We know you love the work but it’s time for something new,’ ” she said.

The Maple Leaf might be forever, but not this new mural.

“I hope it has a long life,” Zendel told the crowd as they admired the fresh art, “but I hope it isn’t forever.”