{"id":745956,"date":"2026-06-18T22:45:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745956\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T22:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T22:45:15","slug":"the-woman-who-created-iconic-sneaky-dees-mural-ponders-its-future-as-demolition-threat-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745956\/","title":{"rendered":"The woman who created iconic Sneaky Dee\u2019s mural ponders its future as demolition threat looms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

In 1991, Fiona Smyth was tasked with designing the bar’s exterior artwork, featuring a cartoonish bovine skull that would become the bar’s informal logo.May Truong\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

When news broke last year that beloved Toronto dive bar and live music venue Sneaky Dee\u2019s was facing the threat of demolition, neighbours and industry groups alike sprang into action. They circulated petitions, wrote to municipal staff and took to social media to express dismay over the pending loss. <\/p>\n

For artist Fiona Smyth, who designed the exterior murals that make Sneaky Dee\u2019s corner location so distinctive, the block\u2019s looming development application brings back memories of a different era and speaks to the inevitable nature of urban change.<\/p>\n

Originally from Montreal, Smyth is now a celebrated feminist painter, illustrator, cartoonist and educator. As a lifelong professional artist, her work was made visible by the gig with Sneaky Dee\u2019s, a serendipitous partnership nearly 40 years ago that was only possible with the help of an affordable music venue that was willing to take a chance on an emerging artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a part of my coming up, and it continues to be here,\u201d she says. \u201cI always look at it when I\u2019m on the streetcar.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1987, Smyth was a punk rocker in her early twenties, scribbling on the walls of dive bar bathrooms along Bloor Street West, where she often hung out with friends. She was also getting commissioned to paint jean jackets at the time, which eventually led to a gallery show in Yorkville. <\/p>\n

Dad\u2019s love of punk rock shaped my childhood<\/a><\/p>\n

When restaurateur Andrew Kilgour found out it was Smyth who has been gracing bathroom stalls along the stretch with her artwork, he asked if she would paint a mural in the basement of a new space he was setting up with his business partners, a Tex-Mex restaurant and live music venue on Bloor Street West near Bathurst, which would eventually become Sneaky Dee\u2019s first location. <\/p>\n

When the venue moved to its current location on College Street in 1991, Smyth was again tasked with designing much of the bar\u2019s exterior artwork, a series of acrylic signs at once cheerful and anarchic, featuring a cartoonish bovine skull that would become the bar\u2019s informal logo. The design is Smyth\u2019s own take on the Tex-Mex theme in the graffiti style she had been experimenting with since the mid-80s. Later, she was tasked with designing a mural for the Dance Cave at nearby Lee\u2019s Palace, another independent music venue. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely helped solidify things, or move things along for me,\u201d she says of the Sneaky Dee\u2019s mural gig. \u201cI had a spot I could call people\u2019s attention to, so even if they didn\u2019t know my [other] art, I would say, \u2018Oh, you know, Sneaky Dee\u2019s,\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Since setting up shop on the corner of College and Bathurst with Smyth\u2019s distinctive signage, Sneaky Dee\u2019s has become as much a late night refuge as a community staple, serving cheap beer and nachos, and hosting an eclectic event roster that includes local bands, amateur wrestling, drag shows, dance parties, film screenings \u2013 even yoga. <\/p>\n

But as Smyth reflects on the long-faded mural above Sneaky Dee\u2019s entrance, she can\u2019t help wonder about the bar and venue\u2019s precarious future. \u201cI\u2019m hoping it might live on,\u201d she says. \u201cThey created one thing and then the people kind of took it over. You can see it in the stickers and the graffiti on the walls.\u201d <\/p>\n

Developer Goldberg Group has applied to demolish almost the entire block of College Street that houses Sneaky Dee\u2019s and build a 16-storey condominium in its place. The developers have said the new building will have space for the venue \u2013 possibly in the basement \u2013 and they will help the venue owners find an interim location nearby when construction starts, which could be years away. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Sneaky Dee\u2019s has become as much a late night refuge as a community staple, serving cheap drinks and food as well as hosting an eclectic event roster.May Truong\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Sneaky Dee\u2019s is the latest in a long line of independent music venues across the country to face the threat of displacement amid rising commercial rents, competing land-use pressures and changing audience habits. Vancouver, for example, saw more than 400 artist-production, music and performing-arts venues shutter over the past decade, while Toronto saw a 13 per cent decline of its independent music venues over the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report<\/a> published by the University of Toronto. <\/p>\n

As an instructor who teaches illustration and cartooning at the Ontario College of Art and Design University, Smyth now works with young artists coming of age amidst an affordability crisis, one where entry-level opportunities for both artists and musicians are dwindling. She says it feels dystopian that a venue once known as an \u201copen door\u201d for emerging musicians to gain experience could be replaced with market-rate condo units, which may be unaffordable for many local residents. <\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s buying these new condos?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n

More affordable rentals luring Toronto-area buyers away from real estate<\/a><\/p>\n

At a community council meeting in Toronto last month, a petition with more than 100 signatures opposing the demolition of Sneaky Dee\u2019s was circulated, and dozens of residents expressed similar views in person. Many of them emphasized the importance of local music venues as affordable \u201cthird spaces\u201d \u2013 locations separate from one\u2019s work and home that provide opportunities to connect over food, music or other interests. <\/p>\n

One of those residents was actress and producer Sadie Stranks, who shot a short film about Sneaky Dee\u2019s infamous Emo Nights. \u201cYou can always build another condo,\u201d she told the community council. \u201cYou cannot recreate decades of culture, history and human connection after it has been erased.\u201d<\/p>\n

Journalist Becky Robertson also spoke at the community council meeting on May 28, concerned the continuing displacement of local music and community venues will make neighbourhoods largely unlivable. \u201cIt\u2019s these kinds of places that make cities what they are,\u201d she said. \u201cWithout places like it, we are just going to become a sea of highrises full of people who have nowhere to actually go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smyth herself spent years watching grunge and punk shows at Sneaky Dee\u2019s, where she met her partner, a musician. She acknowledges \u201cdisappointment\u201d surrounding the uncertainty about the establishment and hopes the owners can find a replacement venue.<\/p>\n

She says it\u2019s possible the Sneaky Dee\u2019s murals could be taken down and remounted elsewhere, but they would likely need to be refinished after years of exposure to the elements.<\/p>\n

But as a muralist, Smyth is used to her art being more of a \u201ctransitory thing.\u201d Weather, vandalism and the changing nature of cities themselves often means her work has less physical longevity than a book, film or piece of fine art mounted in a gallery, she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI always made my peace with creating these works and knowing their life wouldn\u2019t be very long. The fact that it\u2019s lasted this long … I can\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: In 1991, Fiona Smyth was tasked with designing the bar’s exterior artwork, featuring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75,2922],"class_list":["post-745956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-noastack"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}