The mural beside the tracks

What once was
Thorndale, ON
August 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Look closely into the margins of downtown alleys, midtown underpasses and, yes, even giant storage buildings way out in farm country and you're likely to come across spontaneous outbursts of art that would hold their own in any gallery or museum.

Murals are art for the rest of us, creative genius on display not in an access-limited, air conditioned environment, but in a shadowy brick-lined alleyway, or on a sun-baked stretch of corrugated metal hard by the tracks.

And beyond the art itself - which is staggeringly beautiful - there's the story of how it came to be. Somewhere in this community, there is a narrative among now-unseen artists and the patrons who support them about how an unassuming stretch of wall in an unexpected place came to be a focal point for artistic genius.

Whatever that story may be, it ended up enriching the landscape for countless folks - who live here, or who live elsewhere and pass through here - whose lives have been painted with a little more color than would have otherwise been the case.

For every time we encounter scenes like this, in unexpected places, it's hard for us not to be moved or changed in some way.

And while there's no one here to thank directly, we can always hope those responsible for this mural and others like it know how profoundly cherished their work eventually becomes.

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