The whooshing sound of cars along the Don Valley Parkway is a constant presence in Flemingdon Park. The parkland at 150 Grenoble Drive, which bears its North York neighbourhood’s name, has very few trees but towering hydro lines. On a Saturday afternoon, the bounce of a couple basketballs joins the swish of a broom as a girl sweeps half the court for a netball match. Somehow, you begin to not even notice the roaring expressway next door as the sounds of park life win over.
Along the six-metre high barrier wall is a new addition to the park: a mural. The community-led project painted by the area’s youth combines graffiti lettering and portraiture reflecting ethnic diversity to tell a story about the neighbourhood’s past, present and future.
Educator and community lead Aishah Sheri grew up in Flemingdon Park. She now raises her family in the neighbourhood while doing grassroots work, including community outreach and youth engagement. The mural has been her vision for the past five years, a project to keep the youth busy, especially during the while-away hours of summer.
“I’m telling everyone that this is your new selfie wall,” laughs Sheri, who celebrated its unveiling on August 20. The gathering was attended by Toronto Raptors community ambassador and former player Jamaal Magloire and Hockey Hall of Famer Angela James, both of whom grew up in the neighbourhood.
I. Rattan
Sheri proposed the mural, which is partially funded by the City of Toronto’s StreetARToronto (StART) program, as part of a solution to revitalize the space after incidences of crime nearby.
The City designates Flemingdon Park as a “neighbourhood improvement area,” one of 31 neighbourhoods that fall well below the Neighbourhood Equity Score, a measure of factors including economic opportunity, health and education, social development and green infrastructure. It is used, in part, by city staff to determine where to direct funding for social services. As of 2014, Flemingdon Park’s score was 35.8 out of a possible 100.
But the fierce pride Sheri has for the neighbourhood she’s lived in for over 25 years undermines that number. Indeed, the community has been more notable as of late for its response when violence occurs. Two years ago, hundreds of residents stood in solidarity for two days of peaceful protest against Islamophobia. The marches were in response to an anti-Muslim attack on a neighbourhood woman.
The mural, which includes a portrait of a woman in hijab, reflects how Flemingdon Park’s youth view their community and themselves.
“They’d ask, ‘Ms. Sheri, what were the struggles you fought 25 years ago? How do you think things have changed? Because this is what we see,’” she explains. “Having those conversations was important, because if there’s something we’re all seeing that’s still the same, how do we work towards making changes? Or, for the things that have changed, how do we continue to build those foundations?”
Twelve youth, an even split between girls and boys aged 13 to 20, painted the mural over one week. They received training in can control, spray techniques and safety from local artists Jessey Pacho and Kedre Browne.
I. Rattan
The design fuses the ideas of both youth and residents, who were apprised of the project through a series of community consultations. Flemingdon Park is one of the city’s most ethnically diverse neighbourhoods Sheri puts the unofficial tally at 150 languages spoken among its 22,000 residents. So, the ideas for what imagery best represented it was equally varied.
Pacho and Browne had to consider pages of community input, prompting them to come up with a unifying idea.
“We put it to the youth that we should have a quote,” explains Pacho. “Someone suggested, ‘Dream bigger,’ while another youth said, ‘Believe you can.’ I said, ‘Why don’t we put it all together so that it stretches across the entire wall? Collectively, we agreed on ‘Believe You Can Dream Bigger.’ It’s the vision, hopes and dreams of the community translated through the design.”
Ultimately, Sheri hopes the mural will be a catalyst for further improvements to the park.
“This is the beginning chapter of looking at the park as a whole, getting the basketball court redone, looking at lighting and safety,” she says, noting that she’s seeking funding for another art project at the Angela James Arena across the street. “We want to take back these spaces in a grassroots way.”
I. Rattan
website@nowtoronto.com | @missrattan
