{"id":27029,"date":"2020-07-16T17:55:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T21:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=27029"},"modified":"2020-07-16T17:55:21","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T21:55:21","slug":"first-of-new-downtown-mural-series-could-be-painted-outside-catholic-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/first-of-new-downtown-mural-series-could-be-painted-outside-catholic-church\/","title":{"rendered":"First of new downtown mural series could be painted outside Catholic church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Aurora\u2019s historic downtown core could take a step towards\na distinctly more colourful \u2013 and poignant \u2013 future this week as Council nails\ndown the final details of a new street mural program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First floated this spring by Mayor Tom Mrakas, the\nDowntown Street Mural program is intended to honour distinctly Aurora-related\nthemes, as well as tributes to frontline workers who have been working\ndiligently to keep the community healthy, safe and fed during the COVID-19\npandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting at the Committee level last week, Council\napproved guidelines for the mural program as well as funding to a maximum of\n$5,000 for the installation of the first mural, funds which will come from\nCouncil\u2019s contingency budget if the decision is ratified this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mural program will focus on a series of retaining\nwalls along Yonge Street which were first constructed in the late 1960s.\nAccording to a report before Council by Library Square manager Phil\nRose-Donahoe, each of the walls require repairs before any paint is applied to\nthe concrete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wall spaces are also of varying heights, ranging from\ntwo to eight feet, while some are more visible to passers-by than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough the Town will determine the exact location of\nthe mural in collaboration with the successful artist based on assessment of\nsize, condition, location and threat from future development, staff recommend\nthat the first mural be installed on the west-facing retaining wall located\njust north of the Yonge Street and Catherine Avenue intersection,\u201d said Mr.\nRose-Donahoe. \u201cThis section of wall is in relatively good condition compared to\nother locations and provides adequate height and length for one or more\nmurals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recommended initial price tag of $5,000 includes\napproximately $1,000 for repairs to the wall itself, with up to $2,000 for artistic\ndesign and production fees, a further $1,000 for materials and another $1,000\nfor maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should the recommendations be ratified, the Town will\nseek experienced artists to carry out the work. Theme guidelines are \u201cAurora\u2019s\nhistory, signature events and physical environment and\/or frontline workers in the\nfight against COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artists applying for the gig will need to include a\nhigh-resolution colour rendering of their concept, a letter of interest, a\nstatement describing their work, and three to five examples of past work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finalists will be selected by a committee comprised of a\ncommunity member, the Mayor, a municipal staff member, and an \u201cexternal art\nprofessional.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to the recommendations last week, Mayor Mrakas\nsaid considering the first mural is slated to be painted outside of Our Lady of\nGrace Catholic Church, a member of the church\u2019s council should be invited to\nparticipate in the selection process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the rest of Council took their first sweep of the\nrecommendations, local lawmakers focused on whether $5,000 would be enough for\nthe initial mural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a very interesting idea and, in my opinion,\nalthough there are people out there who like the look of concrete as it ages\nand is, in a way, a design feature in itself, I like the idea of having a\nmural,\u201d said Councillor Wendy Gaertner before questioning whether $1,000 was\nenough for supplies, including paint. \u201cI would like to say we should have some\nleeway on that. Wall paint is wall paint, but there are all different kinds of\npaints. I think if someone can present to the Committee the actual cost of what\ntheir paint would be, we should have some leeway to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robin McDougall, Aurora\u2019s Director of Community Services,\nsaid that once the submissions are seen, they will have a \u201cbetter handle\u201d on\nexact costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis gives us a bit of a ballpark to work with,\u201d she\nsaid, before tackling the issue of wall repairs. \u201cStaff have been out to the\nsite, along with our Operations staff, to understand what would be needed for\nthe basic surface treatment or repair. It depends on the site; if it is just a\nsimple crack or a bigger structural [issue, this is] the wall with the least\namount of concerns and I feel it would be the easiest to transition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Rose-Donahoe added that the intention is not\nnecessarily to paint the entire wall in this-go round, but something roughly 10\nfeet in length to the height of the wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe intention wasn\u2019t to paint the entire wall, rather it was to paint a portion of the wall with the intention there could be subsequent murals down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aurora\u2019s historic downtown core could take a step towards a distinctly more colourful \u2013 and poignant \u2013 future this week as Council nails down the final details of a new street mural program. First floated this spring by Mayor Tom Mrakas, the Downtown Street Mural program is intended to honour distinctly Aurora-related themes, as well […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-71X","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-24 22:54:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27029\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}