Kensington Past and Present (2010)

Twenty-four Art and Art History students in Professor Carmelo Arnoldin’s Past and Present Techniques class in the Art and Art History Program created Kensington Past and Present for an activity room in Kensington Gardens, a long-term care facility in the Kensington Market neighbourhood in Toronto.

Kensington Past and Present (2010)

This mosaic mural pays homage to the ongoing history of the Kensington community and market; as well, the mural depicts a church hall building during its 2009/10 conversion to a new ten-bed residential hospice for Kensington Health Centre. The mural is conceived in a two-tone palette: the sepia passages, based on historical photographs in Kensington Gardens’ collection, point to the past — while the brightly coloured areas offer contemporary views. Surrounding the church hall, are community vignettes: stacked fruit and vegetables in a market stall, bolts of cloth on a table outside a textile shop, graffiti in a local alley, humourous local signage. An accordion player and a small airplane and are nods to Kensington Market’s many festivals and the Canadian National Exhibition Air Show that flies over the neighbourhood every year.

Additionally, an image of the mural will serve to publicize an upcoming $5-million campaign to raise capital and ongoing operating support for the new hospice, a joint venture between Kensington Health Centre, Princess Margaret Hospital and the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.

Student Artists: Erica Bergamin, Katrina Bolinas, Noellen Bollozos, Nicola Correa, Andrea Donofrio, Sharon David, Daniel Deus, Wei Jia Feng, Kielle Ferreira, Jennifer Anh Thu Giang, Ruth Ho, Meighan Hooper, Catherine Jeon, Steve Khan, Bojana Kljucevic, Vanessa Kutrowski, Daegan Mcneaney, Patti Meris, Sarah Moore, Henry Park, Emily Read, Amena Siddiqui, Sharyl Spring, Jacqueline Venegas, Serina Bruce