Local photography 'delivered' to public on Saskatoon buses

For the next two months, Saskatoon bus riders will see local photography when they gaze up at the advertisements lining 35 different buses.

It’s part of Toon’s on Transit, a partnership between PAVED Arts and Saskatoon Transit. A community jury chose 35 photographs from more than 300 submissions with the goal of transforming city buses into mobile art galleries.

While 35 buses will each display one photo, a “super bus” will also showcase 10 of those images. Artists, media and members of the public packed into the “super bus” Tuesday to see how local photographers captured different spaces and landmarks around the city through their own creative lens.

Janice Weber picked her subject matter to match the theme of the project; the amateur photographer snapped a black-and-white photo of a bus stop from the top of a tall building.

“A lot of the time that I spend taking pictures is kind of in-between time. Being on the bus is sort of when you get to think and kind of reflect on things,” she said. “To be able to be in a place where you can reflect and also be able to see something on the bus that’s not an ad is really neat.”

PAVED Arts is in the former Toon’s Kitchen location on 20th Street West. Alex Rogalski, executive director at PAVED Arts, said the project is part of an homage to the restaurant’s history, ‘delivering’ art to people much like the restaurant brought food to loyal customers for years.

Toon’s on Transit accepted photos from both amateur and professional photographers and will run until Nov. 8.