The Sunlight Mural, created by Phillip Woolf in the 1980s, symbolized Toronto's soap-making history. Recently transferred to 24 panels for preservation, the mural is currently seeking a new public display location following the demolition of the Lever Brothers soap factory. The Toronto and East York Community Preservation Panel, led by Leslie Barnes, is advocating for its installation in an industrial setting, reflecting its historical context. The families of Woolf and the factory have shown interest in ensuring the mural remains accessible to the community.
"The mural showed people making soap which was a huge industry in Toronto - it employed generations of Torontonians," said Leslie Barnes, a member of the Toronto and East York Community Preservation Panel (TEYCPP), which has been trying to find organizations willing to display the mural.
Barnes said her group has been in touch with the Lever and Woolf families, and both have expressed an interest in the mural being placed in a public area. "Everyone wants this beautiful mural put somewhere. They want public access to it. They want people to enjoy it," she said.
A past that deserves to be memorialized: councillor Michael McClelland, a heritage architect not connected with the redevelopment project, said it's important the mural be placed in an industrial setting, in keeping with it its past.
The mural was transferred from Woolf's canvas onto 24 panels, each of which is five metres by 1.2 metres as the site was being levelled in preparation for the new East Harbour transit-oriented community project - a massive redevelopment still largely in the planning stages.
Collection
[
|
...
]