ALL-STAR ART
Subway stations across the city become a canvas for kids with skills,
Baller alert: If a billboard catches your eye today as you board the subway, it may be the work of Toronto kids. They painted 60 murals displayed in 31 subway stations for NBA All-Star Weekend 2016. The works of art are a result of a partnership between VIBE Arts, a nonprofit that hosts free art programs for kids in under-resourced areas, NBA Canada and Pattison, the company that handles advertising for the TTC.
Dedication — Spadina station
The 60 murals were installed Tuesday and unveiled at Spadina station, where one of them, Dedication, was showcased. A group of Grade 6 students from Mason Road Elementary School attended the event, with NBA Canada vice-president Dan Mackenzie and TTC vice-chair Josh Colle. “It’s a perfect example of how we can work together to not only improve our commute for our riders, but improve the lives of young people in our city,” Colle said. Dedication was painted by 360 Kids, an organization that works with homeless and at-risk youth and families.
Energy — Main Street
Mason Road students Makesia Clark and Shauna Hayden, both 11, helped paint the Energy-themed mural, one of three displayed at the Main Street station. Attending the Spadina unveiling, the two dribbled their way through the station’s tunnel. Describing the mural, Makesia said, “In basketball, you need energy to play.” With Shauna adding, “or else, you’re going to be sloppy on the court.”
Growth — Main Street
The Growth mural is another of the Mason Road students’ paintings, which Eghosa Winters, 11, helped create. Eghosa says art is her passion and basketball was, too, until her brother got into it. “I don’t like sharing my sports,” she joked. But she got to combine art and sport for this project and, “he was like, ‘Wow, wow.’ ”
Practice — Main Street
Linda Chen, 11, says despite not playing basketball, she knows the value displayed in the mural she helped paint with her schoolmates at Mason Road; “practice makes perfect because when you practice, you improve a lot.”
Encouragement — Eglinton West
Encouragement was painted by kids of the Weston Mount Dennis Boys and Girls Club, and is exhibited at Eglinton West station. The theme is one of the values Dan Mackenzie, NBA Canada’s vice-president, said celebrated basketball, “whether you’re an NBA All Star or not.” When the association was pitched the art project, “we loved it right off the bat.”
Family — Pape
The Family mural was painted by children from the Kennedy House Youth Shelter and is displayed at Pape Station. Marcela Campos, an artist with VIBE arts, guided children from several of the schools and organizations in their painting and says the work felt like family sometimes. “It was just brilliant to see these kids . . . go from, ‘Oh no, I can’t draw’ to a complete turnaround,” Campos said.
Reliability — Donlands
Painted by the kids at the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office Youth Centre, the Reliability-themed mural hangs in Donlands station. Speaking of reliability, two Mason Road students, Faraz Momineen and Zubair Hasmi, took the opportunity to ask the executives some questions Tuesday. “I asked the vice president of NBA, like, ‘How do you do your job?’ ” Zubair said. “And he said, ‘People think I just go and play basketball all day,’ but he said usually he works.”