cityscape City Staff Will Decide Whether These Murals Are “Vandalism” or “Art”

A new graffiti panel will sit in judgment of disputes over the cultural merit of specific pieces of wall art.

SHOW CAPTION  ✉ Share on:  207728 7 Vanauley Street. Violation issued in May 2010. It was commissioned by the YMCA, which operates out of the building. 201210267vanauley https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201210267vanauley1-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201210267vanauley1.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201210267vanauley1.jpg 640 480 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/201210267vanauley-2/ 201210267vanauley-2 0 0 207693 947 Kingston Road. Violation issued in November 2011. "It might not be Picaso [sic], but it's a million times better than the random vulgar graffiti that kept popping up in the past," writes the owner in her application. 20121026947kingston https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026947kingston-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026947kingston.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026947kingston.jpg 640 481 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/20121026947kingston/ 20121026947kingston 0 0 207692 934 Bloor Street West. There's no record in the City's online database of a violation having been issued, but the property owner's application says he received one at some point in time. 20121026934bloorwest https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026934bloorwest-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026934bloorwest.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026934bloorwest.jpg 640 477 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/20121026934bloorwest/ 20121026934bloorwest 0 0 207691 895 Queen Street West. Violation issued in February 2011. The piece in question is that yellow "MANR" tag where the lower building meets the higher one. The owner feels it's an aesthetic enhancement, and she's not alone: the application is supported by the Queen West BIA and a bunch of local business owners. 20121026895queen https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026895queen-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026895queen.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026895queen.jpg 640 486 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/20121026895queen/ 20121026895queen 0 0 207690 526 Dundas Street West. Violations issued in February and September 2012. It was created with the property owner's permission. 20121026526dundas https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026526dundas-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026526dundas.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026526dundas.jpg 640 480 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/20121026526dundas/ 20121026526dundas 0 0 207689 231 Queen Street West. Violation issued in June 2011. This, unfortunately, is the best picture available. 20121026231queenwest https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026231queenwest-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026231queenwest.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026231queenwest.jpg 640 480 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/20121026231queenwest/ 20121026231queenwest 0 0 207688 155 Augusta Avenue. Violation issued in September 2010. "It doesn't bother the community, and people love it a lot," writes the owner in his application to the graffiti panel. 20121026155augusta https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026155augusta-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026155augusta.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121026155augusta.jpg 640 432 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/20121026155augusta/ 20121026155augusta 0 0

207687 899 College Street. Violation issued in July 2012. The property owner commissioned it to deter taggers. 201210899college https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201210899college-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201210899college.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201210899college.jpg 640 480 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/201210899college/ 201210899college 0 0 211264 1255 Queen Street West. 201211051255queen https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201211051255queen-100x100.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201211051255queen.jpg https://torontoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/201211051255queen.jpg 640 468 https://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/slide/201211051255queen-2/ 201211051255queen-2 0 0



Next Friday, for the first time, a panel of City staffers will sit in judgment of paintings on the exterior walls of private property. They will decide whether the paintings are “art,” and therefore exempted from enforcement, or “graffiti vandalism” that must be removed at the property owner’s expense.

The murals pictured in the gallery above are the ones the panel will be discussing. They could be removed in their entirety if the panel condemns them.

How did civil servants come to be the ones making art-or-vandalism determinations? It started when Mayor Rob Ford was elected.

The City’s graffiti panel was voted into existence by city council in summer 2011, as part of a package of reforms to Toronto’s graffiti bylaw. The reforms were prompted by an anti-graffiti enforcement blitz launched by Mayor Rob Ford shortly after he took office. Before, it had been up to councillors to decide whether or not a piece of graffiti qualified as an “art mural.”

The new graffiti panel is non-political. Its membership consists of City staff who oversee things like facilities management, parks, and public art. The idea is for them to apply the City’s policies in a more consistent way than politicians were able to.

Not every case will get a public airing. The graffiti panel only comes into play when a property owner appeals a vandalism violation, or when the City’s licensing division refers a case to the panel.

The panel will decide whether graffiti murals meet the requirements for permitted “graffiti art,” which the City defines like so:

…markings made or affixed to property that are approved by the property owner or occupant, where the markings aesthetically enhance the surface they cover and the general surroundings, having regard to the community character and standards.

Click through the gallery to see some of the paintings that will be under discussion at the graffiti panel’s first real meeting (there was also a procedural meeting, in October) on November 2. All of these murals are seeking designation as “art,” to avoid future violations. Even if the graffiti panel decides a mural is artistic, it has the power to issue new violations for any tags on top of it.

All photos screencapped from City staff reports.

This post originally omitted an image of a mural at 1255 Queen Street, one of the nine under discussion at the graffiti panel’s November 2 meeting. The image has been added.