The City of Calgary and community partners unveil new mural at Village Square Leisure Centre

The City, along with Antyx Community Arts, Lester B Pearson High School, Clarence Sansom Junior High, Silvera for Seniors, and the Village Square women’s group, celebrated the final unveiling of a community created mural representing the strength of community in northeast Calgary.

The mural was created by approximately 72 community members from local schools and organizations. Each participant received a small wooden tile to paint, and the youth participants cut the pieces of wood in their wood working class.

Makayla Dakota, an artist from Antyx Community Arts, facilitated creation of the mural. "The participants from all four groups had a completely different perspective on what pride in the northeast means to them, but it all shows our connections to the land and each other," says Dakota.

Silvera for Seniors will be moving next door to Village Square Leisure Centre and they considered this project an opportunity to get connected to the neighbourhood. “Throughout the next couple of months our residents who now live with us at our Confederation Park community will make the journey across town to their new home at our Gilchrist Campus. We were honored to be part of the mural project and look forward to getting to know our neighbours,” says Nadine Maillot, senior manager of donor and community engagement.

The City is proud to support projects like these that bring people together. “As a community social worker, we support the residents to identify social issues and work towards neighbourhood-based solutions. It was identified that residents felt there wasn’t a sense of pride in the neighbourhood, and we worked together to identify ideas to change perceptions of northeast Calgary as well as showcase the beauty of the people that live there. The mural project belongs to a collective of people who live, work, and play in the northeast. Participants contributed to the mural by bringing different perspectives and ideas. It has been great to hear and see how residents have felt more connected to their community by participating in this project. This is only the beginning and I’m looking forward to seeing how the community is going to be strengthened through more projects, ideas, and collaboration,” said Megan Solamillo, community social worker with The City of Calgary.

Each participating school had their own celebration and the project’s final unveiling at Village Square Leisure Centre included project participants speaking about their work.

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