Boisé Steinberg is a small wooded area at the busy corner of Assomption boulevard and Hochelaga street, just south west of Olympic Stadium. The lot was apparently privately owned, or owned by Hydro Quebec. It had sat unused for a long time, leading to the growth of a grassy wooded area known as Boisé Steinberg. It was in the news recently because a group of homeless people who were evicted from their tents along Notre Dame avenue decided to set up in this area, which lead to the city removing them and securing the forest with barbed wire fence and locked gates. When I visited yesterday by bike, I found the area very secured, with no signs of people inside. This painting was done from the adjacent parking lot which you see in the foreground. The billboard is actually in the forest, but I changed the message to Touche pas Mon Boisé (don't touch my forest), which was written on a protest sign attached to the fence (not shown in the painting).
Touche pas Mon Boisé, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, June 2023 (No. 3475b)
There is a south access to the forest, which you see in the background, however, a train track and fence prevented any access. Short of throwing my bike over a barbed wire fence there was no way to get in the forest. The city has purchased the land to make an official park, but then the province in all their wisdom announced that a highway for trucks has to be built here. I sincerely hope it doesn't happen especially considering that the city bought the land to make a park. At least I got to make a few paintings of it, and maybe one day I can ride through the forest and make some more. There was a sign on the fence that was very far away, but I think it said Our Green Earth in French.
Our Green Earth, watercolour 7 x 10" cold press, June 2023 (No. 3634)
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