After a 20-year hiatus, a leader in Toronto's community arts scene has returned to his first love with an exhibition of urban landscape paintings now on display at a Cabbagetown gallery.
Michael Cavanaugh is best known for transforming Toronto's streetscapes as the founder and director of the Bell Box Murals Project, where local artists paint over the city's metal utility boxes.
Now, Cavanaugh has returned to painting with a show featuring "Fauvist-inspired paintings and pastels" designed to convey the beauty and complexity of modern city life.
Titled "Streets Seen," the exhibit is on until Feb. 23 at The Tasting Gallery at 250 Carlton St.
“Even amidst the chaos of city life, there’s beauty in every street corner, every shadow, every sunlit building," Cavanaugh said in a press release. "You just have to look."
With his new paintings, Cavanaugh invites Torontonians to see their city through fresh eyes.
Over the past 15 years, through his work with the Bell Box Project and as the lead curator of the City of Toronto’s traffic box mural program, Cavanaugh has empowered hundreds of local artists and brought colour to Toronto neighbourhoods.
Toronto Centre MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam called Cavanaugh a "respected artist and public muralist."
"His work has brightened our beloved city and invited the public to engage with art in meaningful ways,” Wong-Tam added.
Coun. James Pasternak agreed that Cavanaugh’s push for local art has brought value to the city.
“Michael Cavanaugh’s role as an art producer and curator, especially through impactful initiatives like the Bell Box Murals Project, has transformed Toronto's streets into vibrant canvases, cultivated a sense of community pride, and elevated the city's street art scene to new heights," Pasternak said.
The Tasting Gallery is open every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and weekdays by appointment at [email protected].
