St. Clair Mural
Commissioned by Slate Asset Management, this eight-storey St. Clair mural produced in collaboration with British artist Phlegm has transformed Toronto’s sleepy midtown neighbourhood into a cultural destination.
Project at a glance
Location: 1 St. Clair West, Midtown Toronto
Artist(s): Phlegm
Year: 2016
Services: Public Art Management
100,000
people experience this mural each day
72,000
community members engaged in
project activities
5,916
sq. ft of
public artwork
13
paid opportunities
for local emerging artists and
arts workers
8
storeys of a building
turned into a canvas
“We couldn’t have anticipated the positive response and interest that the St. Clair mural has generated from the community. The success of this project has given us a new energy and way to look at how we would like to see the area develop.”
About the St. Clair Mural
Yonge and St. Clair in Toronto’s Midtown was once filled with busy restaurants, bustling shops, and vibrant public space. Over the years, the neighbourhood lost its identity. Office buildings became dated, restaurants came and went, and the area became overlooked. Slate Asset Management saw an opportunity and soon acquired all four corners of Yonge and St. Clair.
As an example of their creative thinking, Slate invited STEPS to reimagine how Yonge and St. Clair could be transformed through contemporary street art that complemented their vision for the area’s revitalization. The striking St. Clair Mural became a local landmark and gained international recognition. Yonge and St. Clair is well on its way to becoming one of Toronto’s premier live-work neighbourhoods.
“Yonge and St. Clair is one of Toronto’s most desirable neighbourhoods, and creating a landmark piece of public art in collaboration with one of the world’s most influential street artists reflects the area’s unique geography.”
STEPS curated a shortlist of international acclaimed artists who would have the technical skills for this project. We needed to use a swing stage to produce this work, and had to navigate unique site challenges like no ground access and a variation of wall compositions. We produced this eight-storey mural in collaboration with acclaimed British artist PHLEGM, a muralist and illustrator known for his fantastical, ethereal scenes. His work is instantly recognizable and can be found across the world adorning high-profile institutions, houses, factories, and in the interstitial spaces of cities everywhere.
While this project was international in scope, it was inspired by insights shared by hundreds of local residents and business owners about what the neighbourhood, and Toronto, mean to them. Look closely and see if you can spot any familiar places!
While not too long ago, the area was a sleepy commercial district, Yonge and St. Clair is now home to some of the city’s most notable public art, and it all started with the St. Clair Mural. When the revitalization was completed, it vastly improved the pedestrian experience, state-of-the-art office space and top-notch retail shops and restaurants along streets lined with the mural’s imagery! Meanwhile, its recently launched business improvement area (BIA) continues to leverage the notoriety of the St. Clair Mural to inspire other arts, culture and design initiatives in the area.
“I have tremendous gratitude for STEPS and their partners. They truly believed in me, as an Artist Assistant, a woman
and as a mother. This project was my dream come true.”
Project Partners
