2008 Mural Art Project

My name is Suritah Teresa Wignall and I was hired by the Ralph Thornton Centre to be the Mural Project Coordinator for the summer of 2008. My background includes working with women and youth as an arts facilitator and youth worker for over 6 years in various diverse communities.

I had the opportunity to work with 7 amazing and talented youth who dedicated their time and energy in creating 2 beautiful murals and restoring one mural that had been tagged over the year before.

Our first mural was done on 887 Queen St East, on the side of the pharmacy building owned by Steven Wolk, a very enthusiastic individual, who happens to be an artist himself. Steven and the youth agreed that the mural would represent the Riverdale community, a community that encompasses families, retail stores, music, dancing and a variety of different cultures and backgrounds. So, for the month of July 2008, the mural artists and I worked on our first mural at the pharmacy. Next to the pharmacy is the Red Door Family Shelter, so I decided that it would be a good idea to have the mothers and youth from the shelter come and help us with our mural. Since the little ones were too small to paint the mural, I purchased a fairly large mural and some acrylic paints to have fun with. Overall we had a great time working together and Steve was very pleased with his mural.

Our second mural was for Amnesty International in celebration of their 60th anniversary. Amnesty International had chosen The Ralph Thornton Centre to participate in their urban canvas project. We asked to do article 25 from the universal declaration of human rights, which stated:

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, and housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

This mural project provided us with many challenges only to result in a beautiful outcome. The mural artists worked really hard day and some nights to complete this mural. Amnesty International came out to film and photograph the artists. For the film I was interviewed as well as a couple of the artists. Both photographs and film will be featured on the Amnesty website as well as You Tube. Be sure to check out Urban Project Amnesty International on You Tube December 10th, 2008 for full interviews.

To view the Amnesty International mural and the teams progress, please log unto the following link below,

http://www.aito.ca/urbancanvas/mural_25.html
http://www.aito.ca/urbancanvas/gallery_25.html

Overall the artists and I had a great summer together, besides all the great work that we did, fixing up old murals and creating two new beautiful murals. The youth had the opportunity to go on a gallery viewing, take their first life drawing class, take art workshops provided by the coordinator and attend artist network events. It was a very informative and exciting summer that we all will never forget.

I would like to thank the RTC staff for all their support, in helping us get through some tough times.

All the best and see you next summer.