TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION REPORT NO. SUBJECT ... - TTC

Form Revised: February 2005

TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION REPORT NO. MEETING DATE:

August 23, 2010

SUBJECT:

DOCUMENTARY ART - CONSTRUCTION

INFORMATION ITEM

RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the Commission receive this report and presentation for information. FUNDING Funds for this expenditure are included in the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) project, as set out on pages 1439 to 1442 of the TTC 2010-2014 Capital Program (Category - Expansion) which was approved by City Council on December 8, 2009. Funds are also included under Transit City approved priority projects in the TTC 2010-2014 Capital Program as approved by City Council on December 8, 2009.

BACKGROUND The TTC has many ongoing construction projects, a number of which will include public art elements. However, in the early days of subway construction in Toronto, a number of artists created artwork that provides an insight into the daily lives of people on and around these construction sites. Due to the scale of construction for the TYSSE and Transit City projects, the Chair requested that a formal artistic record be made of the people and processes on and around these construction sites. DISCUSSION EARLY RECORD:

Exhibit 1 - “Subway Construction, Toronto 1952”, Eric Freifeld Exhibit 2 - John DeRinzy Sketches Exhibit 3 - Norman Sampson Poetry

There are several art pieces in the TTC and City archives that document the process of construction of the Yonge Subway. Eric Freifeld’s 1952 painting records a view just north of College Station looking south towards the Eaton’s College Street Store, now College Park. John DeRinzy, a commercial

DOCUMENTARY ART - CONSTRUCTION

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artist employed at Simpson’s Queen Street store, produced a set of sketches at roughly the same period in time. Norman Sampson’s “Ode to the Sidewalk Superintendents“ shows that art can take forms other than visual. MEMORIAL ARTWORK:

Exhibit 4 - Edwin McCormick Memorial Paintings

Edwin McCormick produced two memorial paintings; copies of both are on public display in the subway system. A painting commemorating the construction crews who worked on the Yonge Subway north of Eglinton, dated 1974, hangs in the north concourse of the SheppardYonge Station. A painting of subway construction workers hangs in the entrance of BloorYonge Station. The originals of both hang at TTC’s McBrien Building. PHOTOGRAPHY:

Exhibit 5 – Construction Photography

TTC uses photographs to maintain a record of construction progress. These are taken to show progress and therefore do not usually include construction personnel. Once construction is complete, these are archived with the City. COST AND SCHEDULE: Scope has already been added to the TYSSE construction photography contract to allow additional artistic images to be taken to record the stations and the people and processes involved in building them. Transit City will do the same when their contracts are tendered. Through a public tender process, TTC will select two artists every year on an annual contract to record construction projects or processes on TYSSE and Transit City projects. This process will start with the hiring of two artists in January 2011 at a cost of approximately $60,000 annually for a period of five years. At that time, the continued need for an artist for Transit City projects will be evaluated. JUSTIFICATION The recording of the community, workers and procedures involved in constructing major TTC projects will provide a valuable cultural record for the future. -----------July 30, 2010 70-14-31 03-04-000007710

Attachments: Exhibits 1 - 5

Documentary Art - Construction Commission C i i Meeting M ti August 23, 2010 David Lawson, Supervisor - TYSSE Architecture & Communications

03-04-000007216 SSE14/A08-01

Documentary Art - Construction

Exhibit 1 - “Subway Construction, Toronto 1952”, Eric Freifeld


Exhibit 2 - John DeRinzy Sketches

First lift excavation: men digging under wooden frames supporting construction cables and utilities


Men excavating in timber lined trench



Crane excavating with clam shell bucket



Underground utilities, Yonge Street



The trench during work break



Yonge Street timber decking



Welder


Driving piles at Bay and Front


Crane lifts steel girder to support Yonge Street decking


Man with jack hammer


Three men with jack hammers


Man breaks ground with jack hammer


Workers' tools: shovel and jack hammer


Man digging


Exhibit 3 - Norman Sampson Poetry






Exhibit 5 - Construction Photography