Artists Receive Nearly $50,000 In Grants To Beautify Downtown Halifax
HALIFAX- The Downtown Halifax Business Commission has announced the grant recipients for their 2020 “Gritty to Pretty” place-making program.
The goal of the project is to beautify downtown Halifax with murals and other artistic endeavours. This year, 10 grants were awarded worth $49,364.
“It’s important to support our local artists and businesses and continue to invest in Downtown,” said Paul MacKinnon, CEO of DHBC, in a press release. “We will continue to enhance the pedestrian experience in Downtown Halifax and beautify our community. In the absence of large events and gatherings this summer, we know these projects will make walking and exploring Downtown more enjoyable for those working and living here as well as those visiting from across Atlantic Canada.”
Below is the list of grant recipients, along with information on each project, including the location where they will be displayed. The information about each project, and the visual descriptions were provided by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission.
Applicant: Friends of Raymond Taavel Park – $2,975
Location: Raymond Taavel Park (project completed)
Overview: “Creative Candles” were created to continue to beautify the park with a creative community engagement and beautification project. Friends of Raymond Taavel commissioned a local artist/woodworker to make 200 wooden “candles.” Members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community were invited to add names of friends, family, activists, and allies in remembrance.
Applicant: PBJ Design Society – $3,876
Location: Bus shelter on Barrington Street before Spring Garden Road
Overview: The Bus Shelter Beautification project is designed to celebrate bus life and beautify the bus
shelter on Barrington Street.
Applicant: Rachel Anzalone, Luke Fair, Joseph Pesina – $8,500
Location: Overpass that connects George Street to the courtyard of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
Overview: “Between the Sea and Sky” is a colourful mural made of rectangular wooden tiles inspired by the sky and water of the Halifax Harbour.
Applicant: Daniel Burt – $3,500
Location: 1326 Barrington Street, wall facing Blowers Street
Overview: Using a combination of acrylic paint and spray paint, the design of the “Connection” mural is big, colourful, and bold. The concept is two hands held together, creating a bond. Painted in multiple colours so that they are not viewed as any particular race or sex – only human. This mural is for the people who go out of their way to help others.
Applicant: Mike Burt – $6,000
Location: TBD
Overview: The mural by Mike Burt is called “Warrior.” It is a dynamic street art version of a warrior during a struggle. The main purpose of this mural is to be visually stimulating with bright and bold colours.
Applicant: Sarah Cannon – $4,487
Location: TBD
Overview: “Sea Troll” depicts a green-haired figure in the depths of the dark water, surrounded by their nudibranch and jellyfish companions. Artist Sarah Cannon invites the public to explore their surroundings and find the magic in their natural world.
Applicant: Halifax Pride Society – $4,000
Location: Peace and Friendship Park
Overview: Halifax Pride will commission a queer Black, Indigenous, or Person of Colour (QBIPOC) artist to create a temporary mural that symbolizes Halifax Pride’s solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and commitment to advocating for African Nova Scotians and other racialized Haligonians to be able to live free from oppression, violence, and systemic marginalization.
Applicant: Drew McSherry – $1,503
Location: TBD
Overview: The mural “The Fun and Beaty Performance’” celebrates Halifax and its support of local and emerging performers and musicians through its annual Busker Festival. The mural will depict several animals that would not interact in the wild.
Applicant: James Rad – $9,800
Location: 1326 Barrington Street
Overview: “The Home of Legend Bluenose” mural by artist Nils Westergard depicts a young, local worker building a boat in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The aim of this concept design is to engage the eyes with the vibrancy and the richness of Nova Scotian heritage.
Applicant: Amber Solberg – $4,723
Location: 1660 Hollis Street
Overview: The “BEE KIND” mural by Amber Solberg, Dylan Smibert, Elyse Moir, and Erica Meschwitz proposes to create a brightly-coloured, bee-based mural in an unusual setting for passersby. Making use of an under-utilized building step, this proposed mural would cover the top and side with a repeating pattern of honeycombs in blues and yellows, professional artists will add their “icing on the cake” in the form of large, detailed honey bees and painterly Nova Scotian wildflowers.