Coming soon to a park near you: Nature inspired picnic tables in 27 parks throughout the downtown core and a mural at June Rowlands Park aimed at not only beautifying the neighbourhood, but to raise awareness about keeping a clean environment and respecting public space.
Grade 12 art students from Central Tech were approached by the City to paint 10 benches with a nature inspired theme. “It’s an idea for them to be able to educate the public about environmental issues and about nature through the table in a public space,” said Yafit Rokach, coordinator of environmental projects for parks with the City of Toronto.
Rokach initiated this project by contacting schools in the downtown neighborhood and was the driving force behind getting the very generous donation from Benjamin Moore of almost 40 gallons of eco-friendly Arbourcoat Stain. Central Tech immediately jumped on board she said, and the excitement of everyone involved was immediately evident.
The grade 12 art class started work on 10 picnic tables in February and worked on them everyday through to the end of April, while two grade 9 glasses used stencils and spray paint on the remaining 17 tables starting just last week.
The arts director at Central Tech, Michael Porco, said that the students were excited about the project from the get-go, adding that the picnic tables are a lot more interesting than the plain green ones that are normally found in city parks. “If I sat down at one of these tables and had a picnic, I’d certainly enjoy my lunch a lot more,” he said.
Student Kelly Silva (photo at top of post) said that she initially thought the project was going to include a long list of guidelines to follow, but she was pleasantly surprised when the only condition was that the benches have a nature inspired theme.
Silva’s table, called “Nature’s Chimera” boasts plants and animals growing out of a person. “Usually people separate humanity and nature as two separate things,” she says, “you can’t have humanity without nature and we affect nature.” Her bench can be seen as early as today in Charles G. Williams Park at Sorauren and Wabash Ave. in Roncesvalles.
Melissa Ma, designer of the “Coral Life” table said she hopes that her contrast of a polluted and dirty ocean and a clean and beautiful one will entice people to pick up their garbage and not leave it lying around in the park.
Meanwhile, in June Rowlands Park (formerly Davisville Park), grade 11 students from Greenwood College High School assembled at the maintenance shed putting the final touches on their meadow themed mural.
The project was part of the Neighbourhood Beautification Plan to paint on walls that are frequently tagged with unwanted graffiti. The City’s goal with this project is that street artists respect the effort that goes into the creation of a mural and don’t tag the area.
The students were given the assignment of each drawing a meadow scene. Their teacher, Leanne Mladen, combined the students votes on their favourite aspects to create the mural. She said the students were enthusiastic when she announced the project and there wasn’t a single student who came to class the next day without a design.
The City provided the paint, and they started on Monday May 17. The mural will be completed in it’s entirety by Wednesday May 26, once the absolute final touches, such as student signatures and the schools logo are painted at the bottom of the mural.
Mladen says that neighbourhood residents have come up to them to thank them for painting such a beautiful mural; and said that it adds to an otherwise dull space. “I just don’t think there’s a lot of colour in this park. There are no gardens or anything, so I think that it turns an ugly brown brick building into something that fits better in a park,” she said.
Student and neighbourhood resident, Emily Harris is proud of the work her and her classmates have done. Not only does it brighten the park, she says, but “it creates a sense of community.”
Picnic benches painted by the students at Central Tech will be placed in parks around the city as early as today, and by latest next week. Some of the 27 parks the picnic table will be in are: Kew Gardens, Sorauren Park, Withrow Park, Leslie Grove, Coronation Park, and Columbus Parkette.
