The new mural at the corner of Bank and Somerset was commissioned by the Bank Street BIA.
Two local artists and the Bank Street BIA have spruced up Centretown with a vivid addition to the already-rich range of murals in the area.
As part of an initiative to liven up a key intersection along the downtown retail strip, the BIAcommissioned two young artists to create the mural that shows the busy downtown skyline and shoppers walking down the street. The mural was completed in last November.
With pending plans to reconstruct Somerset House at the corner of Bank and Somerset, artists Dan Metcalfe and Pat Buck were assigned to work on the boards around the property to make it more visually appealing. The mural took them about three days to paint.
“This particular property has gone through quite a bit of issues in terms of legal battles with the City of Ottawa,” says BIA executive director Christine Leadman. “The property owner is working to establish a very unique building there, but the boarding around it has become a bit of a visual blight.”
The city has a zero tolerance policy for graffiti, so Leadman worked with the city’s bylaw office as well as Somerset House owner TKS Holdings to commission a mural in order to discourage vandalism and brighten up the construction zone.
The project cost the BIA roughly $1,500.
“We didn’t have too much play in what was going to be painted but we chose the colours, and the skyline we just freehanded as we were going along,” says Metcalfe.
“The characters we picked out ourselves. My friend Pat did the large portrait of the woman that faces Bank Street. We just wanted to showcase the variety of people that you see in the Centretown or downtown area.”
The mural shows the sun setting across the downtown skyline. A handful of shoppers are walking along the sidewalk. Facing Bank Street is a board painted with the picture of a woman looking into the distance, the sunset reflecting in her sunglasses.
Metcalfe and Buck’s work can be seen elsewhere on Bank Street, most notably on the exterior walls of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s gift shop and Octopus Books in the Glebe.
Other notable murals in Centretown are Christopher Griffin’s raccoon mural on Kent and Somerset, and Claudia Gutierrez’s flower piece at Somerset and Booth.
Leadman says murals add to the improved appearance of Bank Street following major road reconstruction four years ago.
When the reconstruction of Somerset House is finished, the painted boards will be taken down.