news
Paint the Town Pink
They call them “Hallmark Holidays”, manufactured, annual events created largely by companies who stand to profit from the sentimental consumer glut behind spikes in candy sales. Valentine’s Day, named after a massacre, is surely one of these days.
Yes, plenty of chocolate and roses will be purchased on Wednesday, but this Torontoist will certainly not skip presents this year because of some anti-commercial pretension. If you have $160, we definitely recommend a sweetheart helicopter ride: it’s totally worth it.
Queen of Hearts is the second event of what we, Newmindspace, hope to make an annual tradition in Toronto. Like Chicago dyes its river green on St. Patrick’s day, we would love to be able to say, “Every year on Valentine’s Day, they paint hearts on Queen Street!” Projected to be at least 5 kilometers long this year, Queen of Hearts is a massive, temporary sidewalk mural of little pink hearts created with homemade chalk paint. The result is, at the very least, heartwarming.
At just before midnight tomorrow, a group of intrepid guerrilla muralists will assemble at the corner of Queen & John, where containers of paint and block assignments will be distributed. The plan calls for hearts along Queen West from Yonge to Gladstone, but if any Riverdaliens, Leslievillans or otherwise Eastern folk make it out, they are encouraged to paint their nabe. Please RSVP if you are interested in helping out with this mammoth project by signing up on the Newmindspace wiki.
Photo by Alison.