By Teena Monteleone

Cultural Mosaic inspires new residents

Feb 21, 2017 | 11:00 AM

Painted tiles, each telling a different story, are being united in a unique project in Prince Albert. The tiles will be part of a larger cultural mosaic to commemorate Canada’s 150th anniversary.

Project Coordinator Karen Bishop, of Mural Mosaic, likened the giant mural to an ‘artistic jigsaw puzzle.’

“We have a team to help fill in some spaces when it comes to color and tone… but it’s really neat how it comes together,” she said.

In Prince Albert, 576 individual tiles that symbolize the community will be handcrafted. 

Lana Wilson, Art Educator for the Mann Art Gallery, said it has been an inspiring process with individuals from all walks of life participating in the project, including a group of at-risk youth from Prince Albert Youth Residence and several refugee groups. The City of Prince Albert and the Prince Albert Grand Council have also signed up to participate.

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“A refugee from Syria painted a tile that looked like the decorations on the top of a piece of chocolate,” Wilson said. “He came to Canada from Syria where he had a chocolate shop.”

Another new resident from Sudan explained the inspiration for his painting by using a translation app on his phone.

“He painted a picture of a sunflower, and explained they are a cash crop in Sudan. He was a farmer before his fields were burned,” she said.

Another refugee from Syria painted a quote on his tile: “A country of love and peace. Canada.”

Over 80,000 paintings will be gathered from all provinces and territories and combined to make 150 individual murals.

“Our team has travelled to BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and PEI but we have only visited about 70 communities.  So, we have a few more to go,” Bishop said.

If ever physically connected, those murals would be equivalent to the size of four football fields. Prince Albert’s completed mural will be unveiled on Friday in its permanent home at Alfred Jenkins Field House.  It will be virtually connected to other community murals, resulting in a massive coast-to-coast mosaic.

–With files from Taylor MacPherson

teena.monteleone@jpbg.com

On Twitter: @TeenaMonteleone