Can we ask: what do you use to top-coat?

At the National Mural Symposium in October, one question that came up was about top-coatings for murals. Some artists don’t use it (prefer to just re-paint areas that need it), but many suggested the product Flecto Varathane Diamond polyurethane.

Media Materials and Techniques for Wall Art

Mural Routes Symposium in Midland, Ontario: “Changing the landscape”, the round table discussion, at the conclusion of the workshops, decided that there was a need for a running dialogue between artist on media materials and techniques of wall art.  As a result this page has begun to adress these concerns and to allow us all to access each others knowledge and experience with wall art.

This will be a collaborative post between all members on the media we use, the surfaces we work on, the preparation of these surface, the techniques we use to make our art, and how we protect it from weather and vandalism.

Feel free to leave your experiences, recommendations, and comments on this blog.  Each month there will be a new topic that concerns Wall Art making.  We look forward to your input.  Together we can learn from each other.

Thank you,

Michael Marcotte

Mural Routes Board Member

Midland Avenue mural sails to completion

Official Opening by Councillor Michael Thompson
Saturday November 7 at 2 p.m., Shahab Plaza, 1051 Midland Ave.

Scarborough – A Midland Park community watched as a work of art evolved on their plaza wall this fall. Artist Rob Matejka has been a familiar site in the neighbourhood while he worked on his new Midland Avenue mural titled Sail On and Fair Well.

Matejka has been lead artist for several years with a youth mural program administered by Mural Routes, a Scarborough arts service organization. After having led a team of students as artist/mentor on their summer mural project, Matejka was pleased to have the opportunity to design and paint a mural based on his own writing. His 12 x 30 foot mural is a symbolic depiction of the human voyage, illustrating a ship swept by a flow of creatures and natural elements. It has transformed an often illegally tagged wall into an uplifting vision of life’s journey.

Matejka painted the mural during September and October with the help of youth artist Jaime Bruno, who was mentored through Mural Routes’ summer programs. Student artists Johnny Yang and Maggie Chan volunteered their time and skills to help him complete the mural.
The experience of working daily in the community has been gratifying for Matejka, who enjoyed enthusiastic support of the plaza and store owners. Comments from visitors, neighbours and passing students have been positive. Since starting the mural, Matejka noticed that debris clearing and structural repairs have been undertaken by plaza management.
The new mural is located on the south wall in the Shahab Plaza at 1051 Midland Ave. The community is invited to join Ward 37 Councillor Michael Thompson and Rob Matejka for the opening celebration on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 2 p.m. in front of the mural. Refreshments will be provided by plaza merchants Choice Fish and Chips, Naraine’s Bakery and Soca Palace.
Sail On and Fair Well is supported by the City of Toronto under the Clean and Beautiful City program for Ward 37, and Graffiti Transformation Program, and is being administered by Mural Routes.
Mural Routes is a not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to the promotion and development of wall art for the benefit of communities and artists. It works with many individuals, volunteers, groups and agencies to achieve its goals. For more information about Mural Routes, see their website at www.muralroutes.com <http://www.muralroutes.com> .

Vote for CANspace!

Mural Routes has entered CANspace Urban Arts Festival (formerly CANspace Malvern Graf Art Festival) in a competition that will fund the festival in 2010. There are 3 rounds of online voting, and we need your vote to keep us in the running!

Please take a minute to register and vote your support for our graffiti and urban arts fest in Malvern. Here’s a link to register your vote: http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf2526

Thank you for supporting CANspace! You can help make this happen by forwarding to all your contacts. And remember you can vote everyday.

Your Friends at Mural Routes

 

Gone, not forgotten

Berlin artist brings Torontonian home in public art mural

Toronto – Toronto is often viewed as an ever-changing city of newcomers, a gathering of migrants. With the focus on influx, we sometimes forget those who have left – and what they leave behind.

Mat Hand understands the conflicting emotions experienced by emigrants who have left home to start a new life in a new place. He is a painter, performer and public artist who lives and works in Berlin, Germany, but was born and raised in Nottingham, England.

When Mat was invited to lecture in Canada this fall, he offered to leave a gift to Toronto in the form of an outdoor public art mural. With the help of local arts organization Mural Routes, Hand will be painting a portrait of an ex-patriot Torontonian living in Berlin on an east Toronto wall. The mural, Portrait IV, is one of the artist’s series of anonymous public portraits – his first in Canada.

As source material for this painting, Hand met with Torontonians living in Berlin and asked them about their feelings towards Toronto and how it feels to be away. “Some of the people I met, including Cathy [subject of the portrait], found the experience exciting and challenging but also difficult and confusing”, he explained.

The artist’s work focuses on absence, longing and what it means to miss a place. Hand’s compelling large-scale portrait will be rendered as a faint image, relating to the sense that ex-patriots have when they think about Toronto. “They have roots there, friends, family and histories and yet no physical presence. Will they be forgotten by the City and by those close to them?” he asks.

Even though her new life is in Berlin, Cathy’s mural portrait will remain in Toronto, ensuring a permanent presence in her home town.

***

Mat Hand will be painting Portrait IV on a wall at 2195 Gerrard Street East, near Main Avenue during the week of October 12th. He will be delivering the keynote address on Saturday, October 17 at Mural Routes 12th National Mural Symposium in Midland ON, October 16 – 18.

For information about the work of Mat Hand, see www.handmademurals.com , www.mathand.co.uk

For more about Mural Routes, visit their website at www.muralroutes.com

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Mural Video about article 2

We thought you would enjoy taking a few minutes to watch the Amnesty International Toronto video about the Article 2 mural completed by Mural Routes summer youth employment program. Click the link below, and enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5n-LWmFZc&amp;feature=channel_page

Midland Avenue plaza makeover starts with new mural

Toronto – The revitalization of a neighbourhood plaza has started with the strokes of an artist’s paintbrush.

Throughout September, neighbours and store owners have watched as a mural evolved at a neighbourhood plaza on Scarborough’s Midland Avenue. Artist Rob Matejka is nearing completion of a 12 x 30 foot painting that has transformed the plaza’s south facing end wall into a vibrant vision of life’s journey.

Matejka has been lead artist for several years with a youth mural program run by Mural Routes, a Scarborough arts service organization. This summer, he mentored four student artists during a summer employment mural project at Ellesmere Road and Midland Avenue in the Midland Park community.

After having worked on that mural team as artist/mentor, Matejka is pleased to be working on his own design that enables him to create art based on his own writing. His mural is a symbolic depiction of natural cycles and the human journey, incorporating a colourful flow of figures, birds, fish and natural elements swirling within its borders.

Matejka is working daily on the mural, painting with the help of youth artist Jaime Bruno, who has been mentored through Mural Routes’ summer programs. Other youth artists have been volunteering their time and skills to help him complete the mural.

The experience of working daily in the community has been gratifying for Matejka, who has enjoyed the support of the plaza and store owners. Comments from plaza visitors, neighbours and passing students have been overwhelmingly supportive. The artist has also noticed that plaza debris clearing and structural repairs are now being undertaken by plaza management.

The new mural is located on the south wall at 1051 Midland Ave. The project is supported by the City of Toronto under the Clean and Beautiful City program for Ward 37, Scarborough Centre, and is being managed by Mural Routes.

Mural Routes is a not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to the promotion and development of wall art for the benefit of communities and artists. It works with many individuals, volunteers, groups and agencies to achieve its goals. For more information about Mural Routes, see their website at www.muralroutes.com.

TEHACHAPI SYMPOSIUM CANCELLED

I  was just advised that the CALPAMS Symposium in Tehachapi scheduled for  September 10 -12, has been CANCELED.

The economy has had a devastating effect on attendance and in order to  maintain the quality of program that we are accustom to the Tehachapi  Committee cancelled the event.

I believe they will still hold a local mural dedication and dinner for  the volunteers.

Mural, a Positive Change in Midland Park Plaza

Yesterday was a day of celebration for 4 youth artists and their mentor as the mural was completed and enjoyed by friends, family and the community were it lives.  Not only a great tribute to the positive work done by the youth who were employed by various summer employment programs such as TDSB;  Focus on Youth  and Ministry of Culture; Summer Youth Employment  but also the great the commitment of  partnerships between the City of Toronto, Mural Routes, Midland Park Community Association and Amnesty International.

The mural part of Amnesty’s Project: Urban Canvas which aims to depict all 30 of the Articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.The youth had the challenging task of Article # 2 which incorporates the majority of the  Declaration, but with a lot of creativity and guidance they did a fantastic job;  a feeling that  resonated with the community.  Gina Jahshan stated ” its great professional artwork and a great program for youth and portrays a positive image to the community.”
From left to right;  Karin Eaton ( Mural Routes ED) Rob Mateijka ( Lead Artist) , Johnny Yang, Maggie Chan,Tristan Joseph, Jordan Cretien, Ernie and Howard ( Plaza Owners )

The Town of Collingwood is mending their murals

Mural Routes is pleased to report that following a process of working with the Town of Collingwood to develop Condition Reports for their murals, the resulting Maintenance Plan is now underway. Check their website at www.collingwood.ca and click on Collingwood’s Public Art: Mending Our Murals, you will see some “before and after” photos and video interviews. Congratulations Collingwood for preserving your public art!

or  click on the link http://www.collingwood.ca/node/2159