Nearly 2,000 artists from across the country have had a hand in creating a colourful new mosaic mural in Chatham.
The mural, which is made up of hundreds of small tiles, was unveiled on Tuesday at the Brio Academy on Richmond Street in Chatham, as part of the Mural Mosaic’s Global Roots International Arts Project.
All of the Canadian murals depict a tree, designed by Alberta-born artist Lewis Lavoie. He says trees are symbols of growth and foundation, making special note of a fungus called mycelium which connects trees together, forming a network that allows trees to communicate and support one another, much like the murals connect communities across the country.
Rachel Schwarz, art director and co-founder of Brio Academy, said the school’s 50 art students took part in the project, each painting one of the tiles.
“All of our art students participated in this. So they all have painted original tiles, as well as some staff and some family members,” said Schwarz. “We have tiles that are part of this but the whole thing together is about 2,000 individual pieces of art created by artists all across Canada.”
Each of the artwork participants was given a ceramic tile to paint with a specific colour palate. All of the submissions were then compiled to create a larger permanent piece of collaborative public art.
The Mural Mosaic project was first launched in 2003 as a way to connect communities around the world, one colourful tile at a time. The project expanded to Canada in 2021 and now includes murals in North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
“Connecting our young artists to the larger Canadian arts community was a big part of why this was a good fit for us,” said Schwarz. “This is a great way to demonstrate to all of our students how connected we are.”
Funding for the project was provided through the Hydro One Councillor Ward Funding Program.
