Mosaic project coming together for Canada's 150th (8 photos)

Sault Ste. Marie’s contribution to collaborative mural project in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday is being created and assembled one four-inch tile at a time.

The mayor, councillor Susan Myers, local artists and school children contributed to the Canada 150 Mural Mosaic by painting a tile during the first of many one-hour session this morning at the Ermatinger—Clergue National Historic Site.

The end result will be an eight-foot by eight-foot mural that will be unveiled June 27 during Multiculturalism Day and permanently on display at the civic centre.

Sault Ste. Marie is one of 100 communities that have so far signed on to create a local mosaic.

When you step back, each of the 400 painted tiles will come together to look like a train car which represents the community it was made in.

Completed mosaics from each community will be photographed and combined virtually in one long train, which will be viewable online, said project artist Lewis Lavoie.

“You will be able to scroll it. You will see the name of the city or the town, then you can stop and pinch it open to find the tiles that you want,” said Lavoie.

When people find their own tile, they will be able to tag and post them to their social media, or they can seek out the physical mural from place to place.

“Every one of these murals becomes a legacy of the town. My hope is people take an interest in these murals and when they go travelling they will pull in and try to find the mural for that town,” said Lavoie.

Myers, who sits on the Mayor’s Committee on Canada 150, said she loves the citizen-based art project.

“It’s celebrating heritage, celebrating Canada, celebrating the people that formed Canada and people who have been trailblazers,” said Myers.

Chief Paul Syrette said the project was a fun initiative and painted his tile with the logo of the Garden River First Nation.

He noted that his people and the people of Sault Ste. Marie have coexisted for hundreds of years.

“This is about celebrating with a good friend and neighbour,” said Syrette.

Lavoie, who has worked on other collaborative mural projects for the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games, said the quality of the painting of the individual tiles is less important with a mosaic, because they all contribute to the overall picture, no matter the skill level of the painter.

Often the painting of a kindergartner and a 65-year-old first-time painter can look the same, said Lavoie.

The project organizers have also reached out to professional artists in each community to participate in the project, their tiles combining with painters of all skill levels to create the overall picture.