Paint the town

By Miranda Monahan

Over the past decade, alleys and walls around Windsor-Essex County have become decorated with large murals, also known as street art.

The town of Essex and several communities in Windsor, including Ford City, Riverside, Olde Sandwich Towne and the downtown area have a variety of conversation-starting murals.

Ford City has 36 murals located along Drouillard Road. Some of the murals are related to the auto industry and others depict events which happened in the area. These historical events include the 99-day Ford Plant strike of 1945 and other events of the same time period.

People can take a self-directed tour to view the murals. Guided group tours are available with advanced notice.

Bridget Scheuerman is the executive director of both the Ford City and the Olde Riverside Business Improvement Associations.

“There are just so many [murals] right now in Ford City, it has become quite the mural capital of the city and that started around 1995 to 2000,” said Scheuerman.

Riverside has had murals since 2007. The murals follow a nautical theme, which represents Riverside’s proximity to the Detroit River. Donna Jean Mayne is one of the artists.

“When we were initially asked to create murals for the Riverside BIA, the committee of stakeholders wanted them depicted in an ‘Art Nouveau’ style which is very linear, organic and has blocked in colours,” said Mayne. “But they were not sure what theme they wanted to use. Our choices to explore were: French Canadian strip farming, rum running or a nautical theme.”

Each of the murals in Riverside has a compass rose because there were more businesses themed around water and exploration. There were no farmers markets at the time. This became a type of logo for the area.

The Riverside murals took a year to complete. The murals are located throughout the 5000 block of Wyandotte Street.

“That was a project [funded by] both federal and civic grants. It was a work program for artists. Five murals were developed for Riverside,” said Scheuerman.

According to Scheuerman, Ford City adds to their murals through a festival, each year. Artists come to Windsor and paint on the buildings and old murals, to keep them fresh. The artists can paint anything they want, it just has to be appropriate.

The murals in Olde Sandwich Towne depict scenes of the Underground Railroad, the War of 1812 and portraits of well-known leaders in the African-Canadian community.

In the downtown area, a project called Free 4 Walls has transformed alleys into works of art. An Ontario Trillium Grant made the project possible. The grant paid for some of the world’s top artists to travel to Windsor. Some of these artists include Ben Frost from Australia, Nychos from Austria and Bask, Persue and Above from the United States.

The murals include wild fonts, psychedelic patterns and portraits. The murals can be seen along Ouellette Avenue, Pelissier Street and Maiden Lane.

“All together we covered about 4,000 square feet in murals for the Olde Riverside BIA mural project,” said Mayne. “We also created 30 [or more] murals for other areas in Windsor including Ford City and Drouillard Road (automotive and historical theme), Riverfront comfort station (Grand Trunk Railroad theme), Downtown (historical theme), and Wyandotte Towne Centre (multicultural theme).”

In the town of Essex, there are 14 murals. The murals depict the history of the town. The most prominent mural was created in 2014. Charlie Johnston, a muralist, painted a 27-panel mural depicting the railroad industry in Essex. The mural includes the 1907 explosion in Essex, caused by nitroglycerin, a medicine which opens blood vessels. The explosion killed two railway workers and injured many others. The mural is located on Wilson Street.

Sylene Argent is a reporter for the Essex Free Press. Argent also serves as an editor for the paper.

“The murals were installed by the Mural Committee. The BIA has commissioned a mural with help from the Arts, Culture and Tourism Committee, which should be installed soon in the parkette downtown Essex Centre,” said Argent.

Other towns in the county where murals can be found are LaSalle and Amherstburg.

For more information on the street art throughout the county, visit www.visitwindsoressex.com and go to the public art page.