In photos: How children view their neighbourhood
April 15, 2010
Denise Balkissoon
STAFF REPORTER
Grownups get to choose their neighbourhood. For children, the place they live is a decision made for them. Adults see jobs and transportation and grocery stores and housing prices. But what do kids see?
On now at Harbourfront’s York Quay Gallery, the Neighbourhood Diaries art exhibit is a child’s-eye view of Toronto’s communities. A big oil painting of Jane and Finch shows looming grey apartment buildings, but also bursts of colour and a broad blue sky. In Leslieville, a larger-than-life papier-mâché robot is photographed outside The Real Jerk and a basketball court. A wish that everyone in Church-Wellesley would quit smoking is written on tie-dyed paper.
The pieces are the result of eight-week workshops attended by groups of 8- to- 12-year-olds at nine community art programs across the city. It was a chance to send messages out rather than consuming them.
“Children tend to bring life to spaces,” said Robin Uchida, who created the Neighbourhood Diaries project, “as opposed to expecting spaces to bring them something.”
See a photo gallery sampling of the artwork.