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William Lyon Mackenzie: 1795 – 1861

Reform politician & Mayor of Toronto in 1834. Born in Scotland in 1795. Arrived in Upper Canada in 1820.

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) Born in Long Island, New York. Traveled to Toronto in 1880, recording his visit in his diary (later published).

“In Toronto at half-past one. I rode up on top of the omnibus with the driver. The city made the impression on me of a lively dashing place. The lake gives it its character”(Diary entry, July 26-27, 1880) Walt Whitman’s Diary in Canada (1904)

Walt Whitman image courtesy of Library of Congress

Composer Juliet Palmer is one of the nine contemporary artists who have shared their first impressions of Toronto with us for First Impressions: Telling Toronto Stories. This is a joint project of Toronto Arts Council and Heritage Toronto appearing as a series of posters on the TTC throughout 2009 and 2010, through the support of RBC.

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“Ideas and methods to the left of normal”

Los Angeles Times

“A postmodernist with a conscience”

The Listener

Theatre artist Soheil Parsa is one of the nine contemporary artists who have shared their first impressions of Toronto with us for First Impressions: Telling Toronto Stories. This is a joint project of Toronto Arts Council and Heritage Toronto appearing as a series of posters on the TTC throughout 2009 and 2010, through the support of RBC.

“The work of Modern Times Stage Company is stunning in its simplicity, clarity, and power. Modern Times is one of the most important theatre companies in the country right now, presenting the best of a new, intercultural Canada to the country and the world. Soheil Parsa, a modest man but one of the country's best directors, is a national treasure.”

Ric Knowles, Canadian Theatre Review

Cellist, Conductor, Co-Artistic Director of Queen of Puddings Music Theatre, Dáirine Ní Mheadhra is one of the nine contemporary artists who have shared their first impressions of Toronto with us for First Impressions: Telling Toronto Stories. This is a joint project of Toronto Arts Council and Heritage Toronto appearing as a series of posters on the TTC throughout 2009 and 2010, through the support of RBC.

“The Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company has astonished and thrilled the Toronto opera-going public. I can’t recall attending such a gripping premiere in many years of opera-going.”

Opera UK

“The production was dazzling, its verbal, visual and musical wit unfailingly exuberant and its stunning cast fully in command of the vocal pyrotechnics Sokolovic demands.”

Opera News, New York

“Nothing I’ve reviewed this year has given me such hope for the future of contemporary music theatre –and for humanity itself.”

The National Post

Dancer and choreographer Lata Pada is one of the nine contemporary artists who have shared their first impressions of Toronto with us for First Impressions: Telling Toronto Stories. This is a joint project of Toronto Arts Council and Heritage Toronto appearing on the TTC throughout 2009 and 2010, through the support of RBC.

“One of the few who can successfully translate a thousand year-old tradition into 21st-century realities.” Toronto Star

Elizabeth Postuma Simcoe: 1762–1850, Artist & Diarist

Elizabeth Simcoe is one of the nine historical personalities selected by Heritage Toronto for First Impressions: Telling Toronto Stories. This is a joint project of Toronto Arts Council and Heritage Toronto appearing as a series of posters on the TTC throughout 2009 and 2010, through the support of RBC. Please go to www.heritagetoronto.org for more information on Heritage Toronto.

Pierre Berton, Author, Historian, Journalist & TV Personality

Pierre Berton is one of the nine historical personalities, selected by Heritage Toronto for First Impressions: Telling Toronto Stories. This is a joint project of Toronto Arts Council and Heritage Toronto appearing as a series of posters on the TTC throughout 2009 and 2010, through the support of RBC. Please go to www.heritagetoronto.org for more information on Heritage Toronto.

Dance artist Keiko Kitano is one of the nine contemporary artists who have shared their first impressions of Toronto with us for First Impressions: Telling Toronto Stories. This is a joint project of Toronto Arts Council and Heritage Toronto appearing on the TTC throughout 2009 and 2010, through the support of RBC.

"Masterful choreographer"

The Globe and Mail