Illustration

An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in published media.

  • SÔHKÂTISIWIN

    ᓲᐦᑳᑎᓯᐃᐧᐣ, meaning “sôhkâtisiwin” or strength/power in Cree, and it depicts B-Girl and traditional fancy and hoop dancer, Angela Gladue. The mural is based on a photograph taken by Calgary photographer, Candice Ward.

  • Traveling Family

    In this mural artwork I felt like I needed to make something that has an orange background as a reminder of the poor 215 babies who were found and how that number is in the thousands presently and the realities of the “generational impact” that the residential school had to this day. I am relearning my language because of that and I used my art to help save my language.

  • Portrait of Funmilayo

    Located on the North-facing wall of the Garrick Theatre, this mural depicts a head portrait of a Nigerian woman named Funmilayo. The Head in Yoruba culture relates to presence, essence and destiny. She is compared to the European men that we would typically see on dollar bills, signifying that she would get the same amount of attention in the public. It is meant to be a shift, or complete opposition from the popular Western view of the African torso. Sponsored by: Signex Manufacturing, Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, Graffiti Art Programming, Synonym Art Consultation, Wall to Wall Mural Festival

  • Speaking Up!

    Artist’s statement: “There’s been a #metoo wave happening in Egypt where “400 official complaints of sexual assault & violence against women have been filed in 5 days” and thousands of women, bravely, shared their stories online, facing the stigma and blame that society places on survivors whom are speaking up. Inspired by every brave woman, Farah Emara, a 23 year old artist, is sharing her frustration and pride in this piece; “One day I cried out of frustration from all the stories I’ve read and heard, and yet I was crying out of pride because they’ve had the courage to break the silence and share such traumatic personal experiences. It’s hard and triggering for everyone, but no one is ever alone, we’re all together. Every woman is speaking up for herself and for all the other women. I wanted to celebrate their power and create an impression of pain and unity”. Sponsored by: Synonym Art Consultation, Graffiti Art Programming, Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, Signex Manufacturing, Wall to Wall Mural Festival.

  • Sun Dogs

    “This mural was created by transforming collected data of Winnipeg experiences into various patterns, colours and textures. In this process, a new representation of the city was created.”
    Sponsored by: Synonym Art Consultation, Graffiti Art Programming, Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, Benjamin Moore, United Rentals and Wall-to-Wall Mural Festival

  • Respect

    This mural is displayed on the wall of Main Street Project’s seating portal, which was designed by architecture students at the University of Manitoba in 2021. The structure is meant to provide those experiencing homelessness a place to sit and place their belongings, while also shielding them from the wind and harsh Winnipeg weather. This mural was installed in 2022, depicting an array of buffaloes and flowers which represent the respect in which artist Jordan Stranger has for those who work and reside around the Mural Street Project building.

  • ᑮᐦᑳᔮᓱᐁᐧᐤ KÎHKÂYÂSOWÊW / SHE SHINES BRIGHTLY

    This piece was created in collaboration with both Kayla Bellerose and Mackenzie Brown. The portrait of Amy wearing a buffalo robe is a recreation of an original photograph by Yamuna Flaherty, a photographer and friend of Amy’s. The circle behind Amy’s portrait is the sun with 7 beams of light representing the 7
    Sacred Teachings of Truth, Honesty, Respect, Humility, Love, Wisdom, and Courage. Amy Willier embodied these teachings with the way she lived her life with family and community. The symmetrical butterflies represent the transformation of coming from darkness into light, and we chose the colour orange to honour
    the children being found at unmarked mass graves in residential schools across Canada, and green to honour the intergenerational healing of our future generations. Amy advocated for Orange Shirt Day for years, so we know that she is now a helper in the spirit world bringing home the children who never
    made it back to their family.

  • Opulence and Soul

    “The bull is the representation of strength and fertility, with a masculine energy. But to balance this, there is a woman that since the beginning of humanity is also a representation of strength and fertility. I wanted to show that within everything, there is a unity of two “opposites” a little bit like yin and yang. There is always feminine within masculine and vice-versa. On another level, this woman is carrying a bird mask. The bird is the animal that is ruling over the sky, the air, that is the spirit. The bull and the woman have the opposite energy but are marching in the same direction. The bull also has decorative paint, like if he was going to be part of a magical ritual, maybe a sacrifice. But what is important is that this bull and this masked woman are part of the same cycle, they are unified, they are life and death, fertility and desert. They are opposite and the same. Opulence and soul.”

  • Pandora’s Snail

    A mural that took 14 days to paint, Pandora’s Snail looks like a page from a timeless storybook you could get lost in. Rich blues and pink adorn the cerebral clowns on Kayla’s canvas, between whom sits an ancient snail. What secret’s loom inside this snail? What stories do these characters bring to the Beltline? Inspired by the Cirque du soleil show KOOZA, Kayla says “The mural is about two curious but mischievous clowns about to open Pandora’s snail to release chaos onto the world. The snail is a slow moving creature making it easy to catch and open with the key. The mural uses costumes and motifs from KOOZA to tell a brand new story created by MILKBOX.

  • N/A

    “I want to highlight the vegetation that takes control of the territories affected by forest fires. The black morel (edible) is presented in this work as a symbol of renewal. Life always resumes no matter what. Ferns are also present in post-fire areas.”

  • N/A

    Freehand painting of a six-story-high, whimsical mural on 17th Avenue. It depicts the personal baggage of how an average person lives with everyday.

  • To Party in 2020

    “To Party in 2020 is a hopeful thought for the present and the future. Daniela has always thought the idea of a party was conceptually strange, especially after attending her first “friend” party as a teenager. While there is a universal experience of people around the world coming together to celebrate, story tell, and bond over experiences that make up a party – the realities of the past and present means that not everyone has or is allowed to party in the same way. To Party in 2020 already exists in some places in the world, like social media, discussions, among groups of friends, and communities. But here’s to hoping that it can exist in real life, here and around the world.” Sponsored by Signex Manufacturing, Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, Graffiti Art Programming, Synonym Art Consultation, and Wall to Wall Mural Festival.

  • “Daanook” Mural

    This mural was funded by Daanook restaurant, located in the Exchange District. The left panel reads “Being a refugee is part of the story, not the whole story,” and the right side “They left not because they wanted to.” Bistyek, a Syrian born artist from Afrin reflects on his own experience as refugee through this mural. The bright colours relate to his feelings and experiences of war as something vivid, yet painful.

  • Into the Light

    Ola’s female characters symbolize empowerment – they carry a message of liberation in a world without prejudice where people are free to choose their own path. The characters take up large walls, occupy public spaces and inspires everyone to take their own leap. Ola’s hope is to connect people with this Mural through its folkloric aesthetics, as folklore itself is a universal visual language.

  • Harbinger

    ‘Harbinger’ features a rider astride their mount, hurtling toward the viewer – and the future. Behind them, the path of time stretches out toward the horizon line, where the sun is perhaps
    setting, perhaps rising on a new day. The moon, in phases, hovers high in the sky. The rider passes beneath the arch of a tree grown into a circle, framing their flight, but also
    symbolic of passing through rings, crossing thresholds. We too, are constantly in the path of change, facing down challenges, old & constant injustices, global disasters as well as personal ones. Once we receive a message of portent, how can we step through to meet what’s next?

  • Look Within

    My BUMP mural was inspired by the business behind the wall. When I discovered the wall I was to paint I immediately went in to meet the business owner and took a few photos. Later on I realized I needed to go back and take more inside shots as my ideas for the concept were beginning to develop. This was my first time doing a mural and I wanted to be excited about the design but also be confident that it could be executed properly with the timeframe and structure of the wall.