Toronto Public Library Honours the late Doris McCarthy
Murals painted by Doris McCarthy: KidsStop, Dufferin St.Clair Branch, 1625 Dufferin Street
Toronto Public Library Honours the late Doris McCarthy
Toronto Public Library is saddened to learn about the passing of Doris McCarthy, a celebrated artist and distinguished Canadian who passed away on November 25, 2010. McCarthy specialized in abstracted landscapes and holds a special place in Toronto Public Library history.
In 1925, the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts announced a competition for mural decoration schemes for public buildings. Renowned painter George A. Reid (1860-1947), principal of the Ontario College of Art, won first place for his design for the adult reading room of the Earlscourt Library (now Dufferin/St.Clair Branch). His murals, completed in 1926, depicted various aspects of community life.
George Reid’s former students added other murals: Lorna Claire in the entrance hall in 1928 and Doris McCarthy in the children’s club room in 1932. McCarthy’s murals depicted scenes from Little Red Riding Hood, Jack the Giant Killer, and other fairy tales, painted “in life-size scale and bigger for the giants,” the artist noted in 2002. In planning for an extensive renovation of the Branch completed in 2008, the murals were also restored.
The murals provided an opportunity to introduce KidsStop, an interactive early literacy centre at Dufferin St. Clair Branch in the space surrounded by the McCarthy murals. The.theme for Dufferin/St. Clair’s KidsStop is the Enchanted Forest inspired by the murals created by Doris McCarthy and by children’s endless fascination with fairy tales from around the world.
Media Contact: Edward Karek, Communications Officer - Media Relations
416-397-5925
media@torontopubliclibrary.ca