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Staff photo/Dan Pearce
O’Connor House chair of the board of directors Tony Wagner describes what is happening with the restoration of the historic home during a visit to the site last week.
O’Connor House on the mend >>>from page 1 open house will be held some time in the fall. Meanwhile, restoration work is continuing on the main mansion, on Rowena Drive, southwest of Victoria Park and Ellesmere Road. Walking around the construction scaffolding outside the building last week, Wagner acknowledged he gets emotional when he catches a strong whiff of smoke, which takes him back to the day of the fire on May 9. Construction crews were working on restoring O’Connor House, which was only two months from completion, when flames began shooting through the roof. While the fire didn’t appear serious at first, soon flames were climbing 30 feet into the air. “Certainly, we’re all devastated,” Wagner said at the time. “When the flames came out, I admit I started to cry.” Initially, Wagner was worried the building would be
condemned, but is ecstatic renovations have been able to continue on what is a labour of love for dozens in the community. They have worked for years to save the historic home from the wrecker’s ball. “Our mission and objective remain to...open O’Connor House for the community, for the school, for cultural events. We will push through this,” Wagner vowed at the time of the fire. He also jokingly suggested the ghost of philanthropist Senator Frank O’Connor, a politician and businessman who died in the house in 1939, would help preserve the site. Last week, Wagner said he still feels O’Connor’s spirit is playing a role in saving the building. “I don’t want to be corny but at the time (of the fire), I said Frank O’Connor is still here. I still feel that,” he said, praising the level of co-operation between the O’Connor House board, school board officials,
staff from the city’s preservation services, the architect and contractors. Wagner is hoping the main mansion can open sometime during the first few months of 2013, which will dovetail with the 50th anniversary of the school. While he is thrilled the building has been saved, Wagner said there have been many challenges to overcome, including extensive smoke damage and severe water damage. Meanwhile, Wagner said the city should soon be issuing a fire restoration permit that will allow the roof to be replaced, although it may be repaired. Also, crews are trying to save historic crown moulding. They are also installing an elevator. He estimated the fire caused between $500,000 and $1 million damage, adding insurance issues are being handled by the school board and construction contractors.
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>>>from page 1 program at North York’s Earl Haig Secondary School northwest of Sheppard and Willowdale avenues. Art teacher Gary Low challenged about 60 students – a Grade 12 majors class and two elective classes – to take photos of TTC scenes that resonated with them. The students then painted intricate acrylic works of those settings on canvas in a technique known as photo realism, said Nazy Sakhavarz, head of the school’s visual arts department. The paintings feature TTC vehicles, turnstiles, subway stations and other items of Toronto’s Better Way. “You are going for a level of realism that is almost exactly like a photograph.” Sakhavarz said. “That is (Low’s) forte, teaching kids to do highly focused paintings.” Some of the pieces are hanging in the King subway cabinets until September.
“What you see in the cabinets is the best of the best,” Sakhavarz said. Because the Claude Watson arts program draws students from across the city, many pupils spend significant time riding buses, streetcars and subways getting to and from school, she said. So, they had many possibilities to draw from when they chose the scene they wanted to capture. “It can be mundane but it can have a special connection to them,” Sakhavarz said. Not only do the students have a connection to the artwork, but it speaks to people looking at the paintings as well, she said. Many people have sat on a bench or gone through a turnstile featured in a painting. “There are lovely connections between the viewer and the art,” Sakhavarz said. “I think people, first of all, they’re amazed. They’re amazed it’s a painting because
it’s so highly realistic. When they realize it’s a painting, the wow factor comes in that you are able to achieve that. It is very impossible to think a 17-year-old or a 16-year-old managed to pull something like that off.” The exhibit at the King subway isn’t the first time the artwork has been on public display. A few months ago, six paintings hung at City Hall when the school partnered with the Arts for Cancer Foundation, Sakhavarz said. “People are really wowed by them,” she said. The artwork is also featured in a YouTube video at http://bit.ly/nym_king Artwork created by Claude Watson students will likely be displayed in the King subway cabinets on a rotating basis, said Sakhavarz, who is hoping to collaborate with other schools for projects in the future.
| NORTH YORK MIRROR | Friday, August 10, 2012
Artwork to hang at King station until September