Untitled Mural - Susan Street Murals - Part 2

So I started off‎ by creating murals as a way to connect with the community. My background is in visual arts. And while I was in university I felt that being an artist seemed like a somewhat lonely endeavour where you would sit in the studio and paint by yourself and then hope that some art critic in a gallery somewhere will validate your artistic abilities and your creativity. That wasn't something that really spoke to me. The idea of public art, and community art especially, was much more interesting and engaging for me. So, right when I was in school I ventured out into different community organizations, art organizations, and sought opportunities to create public art, create murals, work with residents, young people in the community and just use art as a tool for engagement, a way to connect with people, a way to explore expression. 

So, what I've noticed is that a lot of times when an artist will go into a community to create art their engagement doesn't really go deep. They're not necessarily too interested in learning about the community. They're just more interested in placing their art in the community. So the approach that I always try to take is, the way I look at it and the way I think about it is, that it's not my art, it's their art. I am the artist, I am the craftsman that creates their message, their art. Because they're the ones that are going to have to look at it every day‎, they're  the ones that are going to have to live with it and experience it. So it should really be a reflection of them. Unfortunately that doesn't always happen. So, in terms of making sure that their voice is heard‎, it's a very simple process. It's literally a matter of giving opportunities for people to share their opinions and then actually listening to it, and actually valuing it and bringing those ideas into your design, into your artwork. 

We had an unveiling at the very end and‎ there was a lot of community turnout and a lot of community support we received‎, a lot of positive feedback on the artwork and the images. And a lot of the comments that we heard was that people were just really happy to see themselves represented. Whether it was people of colour, whether it was the mothers, whether it was the young children in the community. They were just so happy to see themselves in a work of art.