Portrait

A portrait is an artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant.

  • An Eye for the City

    Portage and Main was once the centre for the banking industry with the Royal Bank Building, Vital Statistics, the former Bank of Nova Scotia finding their way into the cityscape. The Carlton, Radisson and Kensington buildings are also illustrated with Can West Global Place seen in the windows. The new hydro building which is currently under construction is located down the alley behind See N’ Save. In an effort to be authentic, my children and I took a photographic walk down Portage Avenue taking pictures for reference material. The transit shelter was our resting place and the Portage footbridge can be seen in the background bridging one shutter to the other. I will often photograph models or people I know as subjects. This time it happened to be my daughter Sonja and son Emanuel. The third shutter is waiting to be completed. It shows a magnifying glass with a boy’s eye up close. The eye exam; a distant memory pervades their thinking with optical lines still in view.

  • Mural by Rebekah Durkee-Murphy

    Through funding provided by the NSCC Difference Dollars for Service Learning Program and in partnership with the Town of Yarmouth and the Yarmouth Art Society, NSCC Burridge Campus Applied Media and Communication Arts graduate Rebekah Durkee-Murphy created and donated this piece. The artist calls this mural a “struggle painting” depicting a woman reaching for new opportunities. This mural is a part of the Yarmouth Beautification Project and was installed in 2017.

  • The Deep Blue

    In 2021, Nova Scotian artist Danielle Mahood created an “ocean-themed Mother Nature” that pays tribute to the nautical and natural heritage of Yarmouth. Funding was provided by the Town of Yarmouth through the Yarmouth Façade Society Mural Grant Program. Support and funding was also provided by Mike and Kim Ryan of Ryan’s Electrical and Security Services Limited.

  • Diversity Mural

    The Berwick Mural Society proudly announced Halifax artist Ibe Ananaba as the winner of their 2023 mural competition. The 2023 theme is diversity and the large-scale mural will be featured on the expansive south wall of the Shur-Gain Feeds’n Needs building located at 229 Commercial Street. The start date of the mural was Tuesday, June 20th, and was completed on the 6th of July, 2023.

  • Brian Sinclair

    This mural depicts a portrait of Indigenous man Brian Sinclair, who died in 2008 while waiting to be seen in emergency at Health Sciences Centre. Sinclair, with a treatable infection was killed by racism, and wasn’t discovered dead until 34 hours after his arrival. He was only 45 when he died. His death was a wake-up call for many Winnipegers and for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, who then planned to implement more recommendations, and take accountability for anti-racist policies in healthcare.

  • Violet King

    “My design is based on the first Black woman lawyer in Canada, Violet King. I choose to depict her in my design not only due to her connection to Alberta, being born in Calgary October 18th 1929, but for her prevalence as a figure of Canadian History. Violet was an adamant purveyor of justice practicing criminal law in Calgary and later in the US. This mural will serve as a memorial and celebration of Kings life and legacy with a hope that more folks will learn about her story.”

  • N/A

    On Inner City Brewing back alley wall

    Part of YYC BUMP (Beltline Urban Murals Map)
    Sponsored by TD Canada Trust

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • N/A

    In a special mural that was designed to ‘Commemorate Canada’ through generous funding from The Government of Canada, the artist was asked to ruminate on the nuances of the era we are in through his installation. In response to this Alex Kwong brings us a beautiful mural capturing a pivotal moment in time between father and daughter. Depicting Curtis and his daughter Odette on a warm summer afternoon in Calgary, Kwong hopes to expand on the idea of love and how individual relationships can serve as starting points to greater connections with friends, family, and most importantly ourselves. Loving connections in these most familial relationships can be a window into our true nature and the realization that we are all in fact connected and one. Kwong is an exceptionally skilled local artist whose large scale figurative works have become well known in Western Canada.

  • 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.

  • Akin

    Unity and concept of “being in this together.”

    Fragments of diverse young faces intermingle in a column of light within swirling ribbons of colour in this eight-story-high street mural. They coalesce into a radiant triple portrait with a message for our times. Akin is a refreshing work of urban art with an intelligent dose of spatial complexity and social engagement, wrapped up with remarkable craftsmanship.

  • Sunday Evening

    “A pandemic, climate crisis and rising inflation. I’ve never been more broke. But I’ve also managed to gain a new insight into the beauty that occurs every day. Inspired by my recent experiences of transitioning primarily to biking, Inner City Summer is a peaceful testament to how today’s youth breathe life into their cities. The more time I spend on my bike, the more I notice the beauty of these minute interactions between individual and public space. Pockets of people in their own little world. Each like a beautiful painting. By portraying a young woman sprawled across the grass reading alongside her bike, my concept romanticizes a simple moment in time. It champions the beauty of individualism. How do we move through these spaces expressing ourselves from one stop to the next? The woman pictured in the concept is a friend and an emerging artist who embodies a warm, confident, yet introverted energy. I see myself in her. I see my friends in her. She represents a universal mood I began to see on my solo bike rides. This piece is intended to be painted in an impressionistic style (loosely realistic). The warm greens and skin draw the eye and give greater emphasis on the young woman’s tranquil isolation and confidence.”

  • New Paradigm

    “New Paradigm” is a simple representation of the natural evolution of life through the use of abstract realism.

    The vertical composition brings the viewer through time as they scan the mural from bottom to top; seeing the mural transition from a flower bud to a flower at full bloom and then to a hopeful woman gazing into the future.

    Text taken from yycbump.ca

  • Ebb and Flow

    Ray Vidal created Ebb and Flow, a digital illustrated mural series located in Sculpture Court Skate park in the City of Mississauga. Depicting local Mississauga skateboarders and break-dancers that have helped shape and continue to build the Mississauga hip-hop and skateboard community over the last 15 years. The project was conceived to promote the skate park as a place to amplify local artists, uplift community voices and share stories to improve the user experience of the space. Creating a strong community feel that considers the park users and engaged viewers in a conversation exploring the relationship between urban design, architecture, public places and how shared spaces can help foster place making in the community. Showcasing local residents that have impacted the space and left their imprint on the city. Using the skatepark walls as monuments of celebrating and giving recognition to their legacies and upholding their work which continues to influence generations. Working closely with Mississauga skateboarders and break-dancers that use the space as the main inspiration for the series. Ray was able to create 14 different works of art capturing Mississauga’s diverse community and members in the form of portraits and iconography of important historical events, movements and moments captured by Mississauga photographers and videographers over the years. Honoring and celebrating local community members that have laid foundations for the Mississauga community and continue to build, putting the city on the map on an international level.

  • Newstalgia

    The mural is epic, 85 feet high, adding depth & beauty to one of the concrete piers of the St. Thomas Elevated Park in the Kettle Creek valley.

    The design is a reimagining of the dynamics between Audrey Hepburn & Gary Cooper in the classic film, ‘Love in the Afternoon’, and ultimately is a meditation on the need to transcend nostalgia & move forward … nostalgia is composed of two Greek words — ‘nostos’, which translates as ‘to return home’, and ‘algos’, which means ‘pain’.