Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world.
This mural responds to the excitement and joy the Beach Community shared about the opening of a new space to play, build new memories together and see a splash of colour in an urban landscape. These were shared during 16 hours of art-based programming and engagement with children and youth.
These loving strawberries offer a gift of wellbeing to the downtown Barrie community. The strawberry, the first fruit of summer, offers hope and the promise of new possibilities.
The design was inspired through a process of reconnecting with ancestral Ashkenazi Jewish plant medicine. Berries featured prominently in the materia medica of traditional Ashkenazi herbal healers. Art is a healing practice; through my art, I am giving new life to the folk healing practices of my forebears.
Tropical meditation lobby, commissioned by Sol exotica ‘s owner Sevag Kalachian completed on October 14 2022.
total 360 hours
This planned public event mural was painted in one day by volunteers from the Kingsway district of Edmonton, including softball players, police, local business reps, and passers by.
The Edmonton Kingsway BIA commisioned the mural as a giant paint by numbers where anyone could help paint. The group came together and completed the wall in just a few active hours.
The Giants of Edmonton Mural Program celebrated Hope Hunter and the Boyle Street Community Services with this mural commission. The Boyle Street charity works to see all people grow healthier through involvement in strong, accepting and respectful communities. Hope is a mural inspired and influenced by First Nations people in Edmonton, and promotes the cultural aspects of inclusion, diversity, and putting people first.
The designs are themed around the natural beauty of the area (Rouge National Park), the wildlife that inhabits it and childhood nostalgia; being out late into the summer evenings enjoying the weather and summer activities with friends. The tall grasses are a throwback to the meadows. The murals were painted with outdoor exterior acrylic paint for Street Art Toronto as part of their concrete barrier art program.
“…Don’t Plant Anything But Love”-Rumi This quote came to mind after some community consultation when members were asked what they like about living in the area. Most members appreciated the community itself, it is friendly and welcoming. Food is something that welcomes people and brings them together, we share our tables to say hello and…
PJ Gilhuly worked with Hume School students to create “Raven’s Eye View” on the side of Hume School. Makayla Taylor and the Nelson Youth Arts Action Committee also contributed to the creation of this piece.
PJ & Lyla Gilhuly painted this mural for the Nelson International Mural Festival 2020.
“PJ Gilhuly was joined by her daughter Lyla at NIMF 2020. PJ was born to Ktunaxa parents living in Cranbrook, BC, on September 3, 1975. Adopted by English/Irish parents, she grew up for the most part of her life in Ontario. After living away from her hometown for 30-plus years, she moved back to Cranbrook with her kids and settled in the small city and began a career as a self-taught artist. Most of her early sketches and charcoal work from depicting the human figure in scenes that suggest loneliness and suffering. Gilhuly’s expressive work is considered some of the most unique and appealing work and well represented as a Ktunaxa artist.”
Tanya Pixie Johnson created this mural on the back of the Community Futures building for the 2020 Nelson International Mural Festival.
“It is my intention that this reference will create stylistic dialogue with other Art Deco design and architectural features in the city. The composition includes two cat-like sentinels and the suggestion of arches or doorways, water and tree or plant-like forms
These ideas are stylized to meet the design parameters proposed by the client.”
Toronto-based artist Steph Payne created this mural for the 2021 Nelson International Mural Festival behind the Bigby Place building, near Superior Lighting and Bath.
“Steph Payne is a Venezuelan-Canadian Artist, Designer, & Creative Director with a diverse career arc in visual arts, mural production and experiential space design.”
PJ Gilhuly created “Raven Haven” for the 2021 Nelson International Mural Festival in the first-floor stairwell of the parkade.
Harmony is located on the Highway-facing side of Dr. Kelly Davidoff Family Dentistry, painted by Bacon for the 2021 Nelson International Mural Festival.
“Canadian painter and internationally acclaimed graffiti artist, Alexander Bacon, was born and raised in Toronto and has become a renowned mural artist with over 20 years of experience. Using spray paint as the main medium, Bacon’s work has evolved towards deconstructing traditional spray graffiti techniques to create an abstract style while preserving letters’ shapes. The technique behind his work presents a unique painting style where he produces soft color transitions, blending abstract forms with realism and expressionism.”
This mural was created by Ric Gendron and assistants in 2022 on the side of Pharmasave Nelson.
“Ric Gendron is a “paint slinger” who creates expressive artworks that blend traditional Indigenous imagery with bold colors fields. As a member of the Arrow Lakes Band (Sinixt), he creates expressionist, strikingly colorful images that chronicle his experience, memory, history, journeys and identity. Gendron studied art at Cornish College of the Arts, the Eastern Washington University and in 1983 received his art degree from Spokane Falls Community College.”
Damian John created this mural on the Vernon Street retaining wall next to the Salvation Army (down the stairs) for the Nelson International Mural Festival in 2022.
“Damian loves art as a way of saying something, anything! It can be important, mundane, fantastic, colourful, terrible, quiet or loud. It is through this voice that he believes some of our most beautiful messages are relayed to one another. As such, he is always working to create story through his art in line, colour, and composition.”
STYNA created this mural for the 2022 Nelson International Mural Festival on the roof of Kootenay Lake Hospital’s emergency department. The wall is visible from view street, as well as visible to the patients in the hospital’s palliative care ward.
“Wild Geese” is inspired by Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese”.
“Christina Huynh is an illustrator and muralist based in Western Sydney, Australia that paints under the name STYNA. Her art practice involves creating murals, illustrations and picture books from differing mediums of watercolour, ink and pen to acrylic and aerosol.
Found under the bridge just east of the Lawrence and McCowan intersection Elicser Elliott, a local artist, painted this massive part graffiti, part abstract portrait mural in 2018. The upper half of the mural shows ten figures sitting in a tree-filled area. Some listening, perhaps to nature, or perhaps to the figure in the middle…
Featuring a dark blue background that wraps around the signal box, its front face displays two sunflowers, painted in miraculous yellow with strong black stems and leaves, surrounded by smaller white petaled flowers. Its back face shows one large sunflower, while its sides show three white doves on each side, separated by black hearts.
The ‘River of Time’ mural was undertaken by artists Natalie Very B., Bareket Kezwer, Julii McMillan and Julia Prajza, as part of the Neighbourhood Love Collective’s Gateway Mural Project. The mural depicts artistically rendered wildlife, rivers and other nature scenes flowing through the seasons, the observer’s eyes following a series of unbroken rolling hills that pass through the seasons.
This design captures Broadway, music, the cast of an orchestra, lavish sets and costumes set on a series of piano keys (…) My aim with this work is to create a warm welcome back to Meadowvale Theatre and encourage the community to support the art by attending shows this summer, and beyond.
Artist’s Statement: “I created this project for Sentier Cultural in Gatineau, QC. The mural focused on paying tribute to the significance of women in the textile industry and the working class neighborhood that still exists in that sector of old Hull today.”
Artist’s Statement: “This multi-wall mural was painted in Nelson, BC for the Nelson International Mural Festival. Entitled ‘Soul Terrain’, this was my ode to the mountains of British Colombia seen through my filter as an artist, exploring a semi-traditional landscape scene with transparency and vivid color work.”
Artist’s statement: “This mural design entitled ‘The River Keepers’ is meant to symbolize the proximity of Ontario and Quebec as these two provinces are connected by way of the Ottawa river. The local community is very much an amalgamation of residents from these provinces and this mural is meant to commemorate that connection.
This piece was created by Monica to accompany the beautiful poem by local Barrie poet laureate Victoria Butler, to encourage inclusiveness and empower the community to just ‘BE’ their authentic selves. Commissed by the BE Beauty and Wellness team, this piece is on display in their main foyer and includes a variety of faces from all walks of life; connected in a continuous line to showcase a universal connection we all share. They understand that each person has a unique journey and lived experience, and by sharing this knowledge with one another we can individually and collectively move towards our BEcoming. Community empowerment was the focus for the artist and she was honoured to work alongside a local business and poet to create the mural.
Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest news and events delivered straight to your inbox.
I have read and agreed to the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service.
I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the Mural Routes newsletter.