New murals pop up to beautify the ByWard Market

CTV Ottawa: Adding Colour to the Byward Market CTV's Megan Shaw has the story why some young artists are sending a message behind new mural.

Those in the ByWard Market will notice two new large murals have popped up – both visible from Dalhousie St.

One of the murals sits between St. Patrick Street and Guigues Avenue, painted on the back of a funeral services building in a parking lot. The painting is being created by a group of local artists hired to beautify the Market.

“Mural work is a way to give life to a particular part of town. It’s a cheap, effective way to liven up an area,” said Juan Carlos Noria, an artist hired to paint the mural.

This mural is organized by the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area (BIA) Association. The Executive Director, Jasna Jennings, said the murals are paid for through grants from Canada150 initiatives.

“We are going to be launching all kinds of artistic installations, programming and events, for the rest of the summer so this is starting to be the signature piece here and we’ll move on from there.”

Jennings hopeful the paintings will help the Market feel more welcoming following recent violence.

“The Market has always been full of life and it’s always a whole lot pieces that make the Market great as a whole, and this is another piece.”

A few blocks away at George St. and Dalhousie St.  another large mural has gone up in the  Indigo parking lot. The painting of a whale with harpoons inside its stomach was created by a group of Inuit artists from Cape Dorset, Nunavut, called Embassy of Imagination.

One of the older artists from the group, Parr Josephee, 18, said the image is based off a tale from back home.

“It’s amazing to see what the kids think of and what they’re imagining of it…. I’m proud of my brother and the kids, this is the biggest and fastest one we’ve done,” Josephee said.

The project is done in collaboration with Ottawa School of Art.

An official unveiling for this piece is scheduled 11a.m on July 16th at 87 George St. The mural near St. Patrick is also expected to be completed by Sunday.