When moose took over Toronto: Artists reflect on city art project, 25 years later

As people around the world welcomed a new millennium, Torontonians in the year 2000 were welcoming something even bigger – a herd of hundreds of life-size moose statues.

Twenty-five years ago, Toronto launched its Moose in the City campaign, a project featuring 326 colourful moose statues decorated by artists and placed all over the city in an effort to usher in the new year with a boost for local tourism and art sectors.

The project came at no cost to the city, according to council minutes from April 2000, and the statues were sponsored by various companies. The public could stumble upon the hoofed, herbivore masterpieces at locations including the CN Tower, Pearson Airport and city hall.

Some of the artists involved say the project was emblematic of the city’s culture and shows how municipalities can step up to support the art scene — even as some of the famed sculpted creatures have disappeared in the years since.

Moose in the City was a “great collaboration with the city” for artists, said Kelly Borgers, who was commissioned to do three of the statues. There was even a launch party for the project, with music and a sculpture parade.

“All the moose were all together. We pushed them on wheels down the street like a stampede,” she recalled.

Borgers said she produced three statues: Park Moose, Driving Moose Daisy and Florence Moosingale. She’s not sure what happened to the first two – decorated with nature scenes and granny glasses, respectively – but Florence lives in the city’s midtown outside the headquarters of a home care agency.

Lee Grunberg, the president and CEO of Integracare, said Florence used to get Valentine’s Day cards addressed from another moose that’s perched on the roof of a house in nearby Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

“The people that bought these moose, they love the camaraderie of owning these moose,” Grunberg said.

Borgers likes to drive by and see Florence once in a while, she said, and knowing her art is still out there 25 years later brings her joy.

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“She’s always dressed up in all different costumes, for Valentine’s Day, for Easter, for Christmas, for Canada Day,” Borgers said with a laugh.

“It’s awesome. I’m proud of my moose. She has a better wardrobe than I have.”

Borgers said the project was symbolic of the fun to be had in the city, and it “lightened things up.”

“I just think it had a good sense of humour, that was nice,” she said. “Nobody saw moose and frowned.”

Lindsay Davies, who is based in Aurora, Ont., said the project gave her and other artists a chance to “show their thing.”

Davies was commissioned by Belinda Stronach, daughter of billionaire businessman Frank Stronach, to paint a moose statue to look like former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph. The statue was complete with a jersey, hockey socks and a detailed goalie mask covering the moose’s snout. It was placed in front of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I just felt totally honoured and absolutely thrilled where it ended up downtown on Front Street,” said Davies.

Despite reports at the time of moose vandalism — including alleged antler thefts — Davies said she’d love to see the city do a similar project again, especially given the participants’ diverse art styles.

“It’s just wonderful, and it’s very inspirational,” said Davies. “I think the public in general really benefits from something like that.”

Davies said her moose was auctioned for $25,000 that went to charity shortly after the project. Though she said she doesn’t know where Curtis Joseph Moose is today, she theorizes he’s somewhere in Little Britain, Ont., after a local bakery took ownership years ago.

Toronto-based artist Teri Donovan said George Cohon, the founder of McDonald’s Canada, brought up the public art idea with then-mayor Mel Lastman, who became very interested in the project and stood behind it.

Donovan said she got involved after a friend sent her a brochure about the campaign and she ended up creating two sculptures: the Bay Street Moose and the Strawberry Moose with Whipped Cream.

“It was really an interesting thing to do. It had its challenges, of course, but in the end, it was a lot of fun,” she said.

She isn’t sure about the fate of her two moose, although she discovered through online research that the Bay Street sculpture was missing.

There were controversies surrounding the project, she recalled. The quality of some sculptures was not very good, she said, and critics complained that the statues were not actually art.

“But it wasn’t supposed to be high art, it was supposed to be a fun project for the city,” she said.

Donovan remembers her neighbours and their kids routinely checking on the progress of one of her moose creations as she painted it in her driveway.

“I live in a quiet neighbourhood in the east end of Toronto and there isn’t a lot of that kind of thing that happens here,” she said.

Donovan said Moose in the City was a draw for tourists and it also helped raise money for charities as some of the moose were auctioned off.

Laurel Brooks still has the moose her family purchased at auction and moved to their Muskoka cottage, where it stayed until 2012.

She said her daughter and ex-husband initially wanted to get Tourist Moose, with a hat and a camera around her neck, but the bidding for that one was “pretty competitive.”

They ended up getting a moose built by Toronto District School Board students, she said.

After separating from her ex-husband, Brooks brought the moose back to Toronto where it now sits on an elevated platform in her backyard. The sculpture, too big to fit through the garage or the side of the house, had to be hoisted and moved with ropes, she said.

It’s made of paper-mache, with layers coming off over the years, and has been repainted with red flowers that look like poppies.

“I just really liked it,” Brooks said with a laugh when asked if the hustle of moving the moose back and forth was worth it.

“It’s just a cool thing to have.”

— With files from Fatima Raza.