Discovery of the Week: Toronto’s Graffiti Alley Transformed into an Evocative Black Lives Matter Mural

24 Year old English Literature graduate from Birmingham, England.

In the trendy Fashion District of Downtown Toronto you will find Graffiti Alley. It is an eye-catching canvas approximately 1km long that is a space for street artists and creatives to legally experiment and showcase their work.

In recent times it has depicted a wide array of images, often stylistically abstract, or reminiscent of classic pop-art. Despite the content constantly evolving, it recently underwent perhaps it’s most dramatic transformation to date in the wake of the political climate surrounding racism and police brutality that has captured the attention of the world. Up to 40 artists such as Toronto’s Jessey James (@artofphade) took to Graffiti Alley in the “Paint the City Black” project and created an array of politically and socially driven art work in support of the BLM movement.

The work includes portraits of activists of the past such as Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X. It includes powerful quotations such as “you don’t have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being”, alongside images of some of the most recent victims of police brutality such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Protest statements such as “I can’t breathe”, and “no justice, no peace” are also featured.

Toronto has dealt with the recent social and political tragedies in a visually and intellectually profound way.

The artwork has received a great deal of praise and attention not only in person and across local news sources, but also social media. The coverage and exposure on social media of street art as a form of protest is not only an encapsulation of the power of modern day activism, but also the power of activism in large cities that have the interest of the people at heart.