Mitford School will be hosting a community paint workshop, run by Mural Mosaic, on Thursday, Nov. 26 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. for Cochrane’s contribution to the Canada 150 Mosaic Mural project.
All are invited to the workshop to paint a tile, regardless of skill level or ability.
The tile will then be added to one large mosaic mural.
There is no registration or admission for this workshop, and all supplies will be provided.
“Mural Mosaic is a process invented by artist Lewis Lavoie that takes individual paintings and places them in a specific order to create a large painting,” states the organizations website.
Lavoie, a St. Albert resident, teamed up with his brother Paul and artist Phil Alain in 2003 to start the organization and since then the team has helped create hundreds of mural mosaics across the country and world.
“Our murals have included (contributions from) celebrities, children, seniors, professional artists, dabblers, special needs students, and even the odd animal,” said Alain.
The most notable mosaic organized by the team – TRUST - was created by Cochrane residents in 2007 and is proudly featured at the Cochrane Ranche House.
Once the mosaic was unveiled, the image itself and the concept of mural mosaics gained a lot of publicity.
“It really went viral all over the world stage,” said Tracy Brooker, manager of recreation, culture, and the arts for the town.
Alain says because of the success of that mural, the Mural Mosaic team approached the town to be a part of the Canada 150 Mosaic Mural.
“We have a soft spot for Cochrane as they host our most famous mural, TRUST, in (their) town hall.”
The project’s goal is to have communities in every province and territory come together to help create a mural that represents Canada for its 150th anniversary.
“A mosaic is a perfect way to celebrate Canada as we are a country made up of so many cultures and diverse backgrounds,” said Alain.
“To have an entire nation involved in creating a gigantic piece of art together for the 150th anniversary seemed like (an) absolute perfect idea.”
Every community will create their own “train car” mural mosaic that will be featured permanently within that community.
It will also be featured on Mural Mosaic’s website so it can be connected with the other “train cars” submitted in order to form one large mural mosaic, the completed “train”.
“Canada was formed because of the railroad so the mural is designed to represent just that - the uniting of a country through the people and the train,” said Alain.
To date, the town and Mural Mosaics team still have to fill “500 to 600” more tiles to complete Cochrane’s contribution to the project.
“Cochrane thus far has the largest mural in the Canada 150 project, extending 40 feet in length,” said Alain.
Once completed, the mural mosaic will be featured on the building currently under construction at Centennial Park, in Cochrane next to the outdoor hockey rink.
An unveiling celebration date will be announced in the new year, closer to the completion of the building.
Brooker says this is the perfect way for the town to “leave a lasting legacy” and encourages anyone interested to take part in the workshop.
“People can come back and see (the mural) many years into the future,” said Brooker.
“It celebrates our culture in all aspects.”
