Hidden Among Us: Architectural Portraits of Leaside’s Canada Wire and Cable Company Homes exhibit took place May 11 – 13, 2018

View of surroundings outside the exhibit space. Jaan Pill photo

View out the window of the gallery space in the industrial building in Leaside where “Hidden Among Us” photo exhibit is being held. The views out the window are in themselves worth the visit to the exhibit! Jaan Pill photo

Detail from May 11th to May 13th exhibit discussed at this post. Jaan Pill photo

View from window at exhibit space. Jaan Pill photo

Detail from May 11th to May 13th exhibit discussed at this post. Jaan Pill photo

I had the opportunity to catch the opening of this show and to meet key people involved with the organizing of it.

This is a truly engaging and superbly well-organized event; if you have the opportunity to catch this photo exhibit – and to visit a great industrial site – I recommend it highly. Just the visit to the site of the gallery makes the trip well worth your while.

This was my first visit to this part of Leaside. The sense of history that is inherent in a large-scale industrial site left a powerful impression on me. Given my interest in how language works, and what the history of industrialization – and deindustrialization – entails, I was delighted to learn that such a place exists – continues to exist – in Toronto!

As a keen student of language, and of visual imagery, so many metaphors spring to mind for me, when I first encounter such a spectacular and evocative setting.

I am working on a transcript of an interview I did some weeks ago with Connor Turnbull of the advocacy organization, Leaside Matters, which is involved in the staging of this exhibit.

My recent work on Jane’s Walks events, plus getting ready to sell our house and move to Stratford (Ontario) has meant that the transcript is taking more time than otherwise would be the case.

The kinds of issues that residents in Leaside are addressing, related to preservation of the physical character of a long-established neighbourhood, are similar to the challenge that residents of Long Branch and Willowdale are currently facing. As I will note in future posts, as residents, we have much to learn from each other, no matter where in Toronto we may be living.

For the current post, I’m pleased to share some photos from the opening for “Hidden Among Us.”

Image from “Hidden Among Us” photo exhibit. Source: Leaside Matters.

Hidden Amongst Us: Architectural Portraits of Leaside’s Canada Wire and Cable Company Homes

Leaside Matters, in association with architectural photographer Vik Pahwa, invite you to discover the “big bang” of the Town of Leaside. In 1913 Canada Wire and Cable Company was not only the first industry in Leaside, but also the first company to embrace landscape architect Frederick Gage Todd’s idea of a ‘model town” where industry and residential coexist to foster a thriving community. These houses are still amongst us. Come take a closer look at these wonderful buildings.

Date: May 11 to 13; 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Location: ArteMbassy, 28 Industrial Street, Suite 219

Click on the photos to enlarge them; click again to enlarge them further