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Public Art and Murals

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Public art is in a category of its own, teasing, prodding, and often delighting us when we least expect it.

Owen Sound has more than 20 murals, sculptures and installations waiting to be discovered. Close to half are off-site projects by the Tom Thomson Art Gallery; many others are independent or collaborative works by local artists such as Billy Goodkat, featured in this winning video, City of Art, from a Youth Film Festival in Owen Sound.

Add more than 40 new banners created each year by the Owen Sound Art Banner Project and you have a kaleidoscope of public art in the Scenic City. Here's a sampling of public art projects:

Koodo Mural

Carney's Lane off 2nd Avenue East

Artist: Emily Rose

Watch the Koodo YouTube video about Owen Sound and the creation of this beautiful mural.

Black History Cairn

Harrison Park

1155 2nd Avenue East

Artists: Bonita de Matteis Johnson and Jim Hong Louie

Lest We Forget - Local Heroes Digital Mural

Owen Sound Legion, Branch 6

1450 2nd Avenue West

Artists: Tess Dunn, Laura Stirling, Gillian Wagenaar and Melissa Yeo

Transformation 2015

Legacy Mural Project

Owen Sound Artists' Co-op

Artists: Billy Goodkat with Keystone students and assistance from Morag Budgeon and Jen Klemm

Vida Mural

Artists' Alley between Casero Kitchen Table and The Milk Maid

Artists: Students led by the Artists' Co-op

Artists' Alley Project

Alleyway off 2nd Avenue East between The Milk Maid and The Bleeding Carrot

Artist: Various local artists

Dr. Cobbler Mural

921 2nd Avenue East

Artist: Billy Goodkat

Villa Nina Bistro Mural

101 10th Street East

Artist: Billy Goodkat

Mac's Street Art Mural

Project with Owen Sound Police Service

280 10th Street East (north side of building)

Artist: "Wong" with local Grade 6 pupils

J. James Photo, Downtown Owen Sound

City Hall, Heroes Square

Facing 8th Street East at 2nd Avenue East

Photographer: J. James

The Mill Dam Mural

Owen Sound Mill Dam Storage Shed, 150 5th Street 'A' East

Project with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), Sydenham Sportsmen's Association, St. Mary's High School Grade 10 Art Class, Billy Goodkat, and the City of Owen Sound

Artists: Billy Goodkat and students from St. Mary's High School

 And here are some Tom Thomson Art Gallery projects:

Children at Play 

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Sculpture in front of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery

840 1st Avenue West

Artist: Barrie Shaw-Rimington

1977

164.0 x 80.0 x 84.0 cm  

Laminated fibreglass and polyester resin with ground bronze

Collection of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, Gallery Purchase, 1977.

The Gallery's art acquisition committee wanted to commemorate the Gallery's 10th Anniversary with the addition of an outdoor sculpture. The sculpture was installed in June 1977. A public contest was held to name the work which was not given a title by the artist; Children at Play was chosen.

Campsite-Campsight

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Harrison Park

1155 2nd Avenue East

Artists: Stephen Hogbin and Alan Glicksman

2012

Part of the TOM's Canadian Spirit 2012-2017 Offsite Public Art Program.

Campsite-Campsight is a collaborative installation by local artists Alan Glicksman and Stephen Hogbin. This installation consists of a tent, canoe, boardwalk, and dock at the edge of the lake. A campsite is a place to walk, climb and sit, and campsight is where one can reflect on a single tree or the entire forest. This sculptural installation was built to commemorate the arrival of Tom Thomson in the Huntsville area 100 years ago.

Window to the World

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Back entrance to the Roxy Theatre

251 9th Street East

Artist: Led by Billy Goodkat

2013

Spray paint on brick

Part of the TOM's Canadian Spirit 2012-2017 Offsite Public Art Program.

For the 100th anniversary of the building of the Roxy Theatre, the TOM organized a professional muralist, Billy Goodkat, to lead a team of local artists and high school art students through the process of creating a large scale mural. The Window to the World mural rendering allowed each artist the opportunity to develop their signature "window", allowing a fresh, imaginative vision to the world of the theatre. Local artists and students involved include Samantha Blake, Cala Bryans, Shalana Bryans, Morag Budgeon, Heather Hughes, Marc Matei, Zoey Mitchell and Aly Mulvaney-Courtois. 

Miigwetch Animikii Bineeyhnshi (Thank You Thunderbird Spirit)

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Loading dock entrance of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery

840 1st Avenue West

Artist: Nyle Migizi Johnston

2014

11.5 x 14 feet

Spray paint

Part of the TOM's Canadian Spirit 2012-2017 Offsite Public Art Program.

In celebration of the How Deep Our Roots public art projects in 2014, contemporary muralist, Nyle Migizi Johnston, transformed the Gallery's loading dock door with his mural entitled, MIIGWETCH ANIMIKII BINEEYHNSHI (THANK YOU THUNDERBIRD SPIRIT), depicting a colourful and striking Thunderbird image united with an Anishnaabe Medicine Person.  This mural acts as a larger visual teaching tool, sharing the rich history and culture of the Anishnaabe Nation.

 Wilmer's House

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Located at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery

840 1st Avenue West, Owen Sound

Michael Davey

1983-2005

Cast iron and granite

Approximately 54 x 42 x 50 cm

Collection of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, Owen Sound, gift of Michael Davey, 2015.

Sitting on a granite boulder from the Bruce Peninsula, the cast iron sculpture depicts the home built by Wilmer Nadjwon, noted author, wood carver, social activist, and community leader.

Tom Thomson in his Canoe

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In front of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery

840 1st Avenue West

Enlarged detail from a photograph of Tom Thomson in his canoe taken in 1912.

115 x 470 x 2 cm

Next time you visit the TOM, make sure to take a picture with Tom Thomson in his canoe!

Sunset Sky

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Julie McArthur Regional Recreation Centre

700 10th Street East

Artist: Collaborative Community Mural

2015

Acrylic paint on plywood

256 square feet

Part of the TOM's Canadian Spirit 2012-2017 Offsite Public Art Program.

In spring of 2015, the TOM led the development of a large site-specific public mural, recreating Tom Thomson's 1915 painting Sunset Sky - a stunning work that captures the true spirit of the northern landscape from the Gallery's permanent collection. This collaborative mural was installed onsite at Summerfolk, alongside the amphitheatre stage for all audiences to enjoy. Many local hands were involved in painting including dedicated volunteers: Rhiannon Charles, Andy King, Sage Lemoine, Evie Lepietuszko, Emily Medeiros, Aly Mulvaney-Courtois, Scottie Pitt, Niamh Thomas and Raquell Yang. Sunset Sky is now permanently installed in the Julie McArthur Regional Recreation Centre for our Owen Sound Community members to enjoy.

Symbology Artist Collective

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Sun Times

290 9th Street East

Artist: VSVSVS (pronounced versus, versus, versus)

2015

Artist collective designed art banners

Part of the TOM's Canadian Spirit 2012-2017 Offsite Public Art Program

In celebration of Canadian Spirit 2015: With A Destiny, the ambitious seven-person Toronto based artist collective, VSVSVS (pronounced versus, versus, versus) transformed The Sun Times Building in Owen Sound into one colourful conversation. VSVSVS created a series of seven bold art banners entitled Symbology documenting an instinctive, individual and personal exchange of hand drawn symbols between each artist, building a story through visual language. "It all started out as a drawing game" states VSVSVS, "where one person would draw a symbol and the next person would draw a symbol that responds in some way to the first. The thread would mutate between each symbol, and it functioned like a graphic conversation. Over time, the visual language developed and we really enjoyed the way we could communicate and reinterpret each other's ideas through non-linguistic means. This notion, finding new ways to communicate, seems especially fitting to celebrate contemporary Canadian culture, which is essentially forming community across difference. We see it as a celebration of multiplicity and language, and hope to bring some bright colour to the downtown of Owen Sound highlighting an integral communication centre to the community: The Sun Times."

Time with Tom

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Grey Bruce Health Services (Owen Sound Hospital) - Oncology Unit

1800 8th Street East

Large-scale vinyl reproductions of Tom Thomson's work

2016

Vinyl adhesive decals

Part of the TOM's Canadian Spirit 2012-2017 Offsite Public Art Program.

Time with Tom highlights and celebrates Tom Thomson's oil on panel sketches from the Gallery's permanent collection. Time with Tom features fifteen large-scale reproductions of Tom Thomson's works installed throughout the Cancer Centre at Grey Bruce Health Services. This Canadian Spirit project provides an opportunity to celebrate the healing power of art and our beloved hometown artist, canoeist, guide and woodsman, Tom Thomson, who created lasting images that remind us of the beauty of our country. The TOM gratefully acknowledges funding support for Time with Tom project from Community Foundation Grey Bruce.

Morning

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Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre

1900 3rd Avenue East

Artists: Led by Alyson Mulvaney-Courtois

2016

Acrylic paint on plywood

168 square feet

Part of the TOM's Canadian Spirit 2012-2017 Offsite Public Art Program.

The TOM's creative team led the development of creating a painted mural of Thomson's 1915 Morning sketch from the Gallery's permanent collection. This particular work accurately captures the true spirit of a northern sunrise. Lead artist on this mural was the TOM's Audience Engagement Assistant, Alyson Mulvaney-Courtois, who was assisted by a visiting art student from England, Charlotte Hicks, along with various TOM staff members. Morning was temporarily installed beside the amphitheatre stage during the Summerfolk Festival at Kelso Beach on August 19-22, 2016. Morning now hangs permanently in its new community home at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.

Visitor Information Centre

FALL/WINTER HOURS & LOCATION:

From October (Thanksgiving weekend) to May (Victoria Day long weekend), Visitor Services is available at City Hall, 808 2nd Avenue East. City Hall is open Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

SPRING/SUMMER HOURS & LOCATION:

From May (Victoria Day weekend) to October (Thanksgiving weekend) Visitor Services are available at the Visitor Centre, 1155 1st Ave West. It is open 7 days a week: Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and weekends 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Check online for changes to hours due to Covid-19.

Harrison Park Campground & Reservations call 519-371-9734

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Owen Sound, Ontario,
N4K 4K8

Tel: 519-371-9833
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