Canada 150 Mosaics
The past couple of years has seen a primary focus on a national mosaic project for Canada’s 150th anniversary, that demonstrates Canada’s cultural and geographical diversity. The idea was to aim for 150 mosaics across Canada for each of the 150 years. It is a community oriented project, still in motion, that has reached nearly a hundred mosaics so far. The mosaics are painted in communities across the country, by citizens, and including politicians and celebrities. Jann Arden, Rick Mercer, Lanny McDonald, Sarah McLachlan, Susan Aglukark, and Sam Roberts are just some of the notable Canadians who have contributed to the mosaics.
The individual mosaics make up a national mural of a train, with each community mosaic being a car from the train. Lewis explains that the train car concept means that no matter how many murals are painted, whether it reaches 150 or not… the project can be considered complete, just that the length of the “train” will be different. By the same token, any communities that want to get on board late in the project will not be turned away; there is always room for another train car.
That spirit of inclusiveness has been central to the Canada 150 mosaic project. Special effort has been made in each community to make sure minorities or those who might otherwise be left out are very much included in the project. The enthusiasm for the project has been great, but the team has found that this enthusiasm often comes after the fact. There is hesitation at first sometimes, for citizens who, perhaps, feel intimidated to put brush to canvas. Once the final project is presented, though, people are really excited to see the results, with communities even contacting one another to compare projects. This has been satisfying for the team to see, given that the project is meant to bring people and communities together.
The finished products remain in the communities as a lasting legacy of people who resided there during Canada’s 150th year. The team hopes that future generations see value in the murals and are inspired to create murals of their own. “One hundred years from now, when the Antique Road Show rolls through your town, and the mural has been sold off to a private person,” Lewis jokes, “they’ll be trying to figure out who painted what and it will be worth millions.”
The team hasn’t decided what comes next, once the Canada 150 project is over. For now, you can follow this project (and maybe even get involved), at canada150mosaic.com and the project’s Facebook page, Canada 150 Mosaic Mural.
--Shauna Specht