A back lane the city eventually decided not to fight
Graffiti Alley
Running behind Queen Street West, Graffiti Alley grew from years of unsanctioned street art into a semi-official public gallery, and briefly became a global backdrop after Drake filmed a video there.
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Graffiti Alley runs along Rush Lane, a back laneway parallel to Queen Street West in Toronto's Fashion District, and grew informally over years of street artists painting the walls of the buildings backing onto it. Rather than continually painting over the murals, as the city did in many other locations, property owners and the city gradually let the laneway develop into something closer to a semi-official outdoor gallery, with new work regularly painted over older pieces in an ongoing, informally curated rotation.
A backdrop for the world
The laneway drew wider attention after Drake filmed parts of the music video for "Started From the Bottom" there in 2013, introducing Graffiti Alley to a global audience and turning it into a regular stop for tourists and photographers. It remains one of the most visited pieces of street art in Toronto, a rare example of graffiti culture that moved from being treated as vandalism to being actively preserved as a tourist attraction.
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