Non-profit wants to beautify public spaces, build community with art

TORONTO-  The Steps Initiative, a Toronto-based community organization, has been working hard to make public spaces look creative and beautiful since 2009.

“STEPS stands for Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space. And we’re an arts organization that works with communities to bridge the gap between the social, environmental and economic sectors of the city to bring people together to create a platform for them so they can use their public spaces and use art to creatively connect with one another,” Vera Belazelkoska, the community engagement coordinator for STEPS, said.

“Art can not only aesthetically change how a certain community looks or a certain public space feels, but also it can be a platform through which people can civically engage with one another.”

The latest project, the revitalization of the Dufferin/York Beltline underpass, will soon be finished with enhanced lighting, murals on two interior walls of the underpass and two pedestrian tunnels painted with bright colours.

The murals were painted by street art duo Alexa Hatanaka and Patrick Thompson, known as PA System.

“STEPS is incredibly important for Toronto. It’s a hard thing to convince people of the importance of public art but when you visit any cities in the world that have already made that initiative of changing public art through colour or sculpture or beautifying through foliage and planting trees they’re places that people want to live,” said Thompson

Through conversations with the community members and the artists the idea of incorporating some of the area’s history into the mural came up. There used to be a factory nearby that produced wool to be sold to stores wrapped similar to a pretzel and that is the inspiration behind the artwork.

“I do all kinds of different exterior mural projects, so I am, focussed on making change in the city through colour,” said Thompson.

Throughout the project many people have stopped to look at the painting being done and have expressed their gratitude.

“When people are around colours they are more geared towards staying in a space; they feel like it’s more welcoming. They feel it is less invasive on a visual sensory overload level. And we’ve had people from all different walks of life stopping and saying thank you and honks and thumbs up,” said Thompson

The STEPS Initiative has completed many other projects over the years through its Emerging ARTivists program; including the St. Jamestown mural and a project in Thorncliffe park.

“In St. Jamestown the youth had identified certain towers as feeling really devout of any pleasing visual activity so they thought it would be great to do a big mural and they had come up with the concept,” said Belazelkoska.