Thursday, June 14, 2012

"Gateway"

This sculpture is part of the Pole Colonnade that is along the right-of-way of the Spadina Ave streetcars. It was selected in 1997 by the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) to mark the main intersection in Chinatown at Spadina & Dundas St. The artist Millie Chen has configured fiberglass casts of mythical creatures (phoenix, dragon, monkey king & unicorn) along with the 20' poles to spell out the Chinese characters for 'gateway'.  And the nice flash of red is a welcome sight even in this very colourful area!

19 comments:

  1. A little piece of Asia in Toronto. I love the dragon. ;-)

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  2. Love this! Hard to photograph with all that is going on in the background, but you did a great job.

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  3. For some reason this reminds me of Chicago's Chinatown, maybe it is all the color - well done.

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  4. A tribute to Chinatown and its inhabitants and a testimony to Toronto's vitality. Now, if the city could put all those pesky wires underground... :-)

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  5. I love those kinds of gates. Makes you feel really welcome. :)

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  6. Lowell - actually all the wires in the pic are the overhead wires involved in running the streetcars/trams since they run on electricity. They are anchored onto the streetlamp poles for stability.

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  7. Chinatowns are so neat to walk through, no matter the city.

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  8. Great photo of this fantastic structure, Pat!

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  9. Very nice and original!
    Thanks for sharing;o)

    ***
    Happy day****

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  10. Back in the old days when I did the OOAK show a large group of us would go to Lee Gardens near this corner. They had large round tables, we would order almost everything on the menu. Thanks

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  11. Fascinating piece of sculpture....I always love going to China town wherever I am....Have a good weekend Red Pat!

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  12. I have to agree with Regina. It does look a lot like the Chicago Chinatown in the background. Interesting art.

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  13. I love that nearly all cities have a Chinatown, such fascinating place to visit. this shot looks so good when you bring it in closer to check out the sculpture in more detail.

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