Mural festival brings color to the streets of Halifax
Quinpool Road in Halifax welcomed 19 new murals on Saturday featuring live performances, face painting and games.
The murals are part of the second Halifax Mural Festival.
In addition to the murals on Quinpool, there are 13 new murals on Grafton Street, nine along the waterfront and one new installation on Gottingen Street, according to festival organizer Michael Burt.
Burt, who is a full-time artist, said about 25 murals were created at the previous festival.
The walls are made available by local companies.
Despite days of rain, artists have been working since Monday to get their murals ready.
Burt said the goal of the festival is to beautify the city and give artists a chance to build their portfolio by showing their work to the public.
Burt said he was grateful for his continued cooperation with the local business association.
“I hope to stay at Quinpool for a long time,” he said. “We’re going to do some tours here, because with the two years together we now have over 30 murals on this one road.”
Burt said he runs most of the festival himself. He chooses the artists based on word of mouth and through contacts.
He said he “has an eye for it” as an artist. Once he identifies potential participants, he follows up to determine if they want to participate.
He said he plans to develop tours so people can learn more about the artists involved and their murals.
Montreal-based artist Bosny created two murals for the festival – one on Quinpool as his main project and another of actor Elliot Page on Grafton Street.
Bosny, who has painted murals elsewhere, said the Halifax Festival is one of his favorites.
“People are hospitable,” Bosny said in French. “The energy is positive. The other artists are friendly. It’s always a pleasure. It’s a fun community and the murals are beautiful.”
He said he chose to paint Page because he wanted to put someone on the wall who was from Halifax for the community to see.
Karla Nicholson, executive director of the Quinpool Road Mainstreet District Association, said the festival is attracting media attention and drawing many more people to the street.
“I want to see it again next year and I want to see it again all over the city.” Nicholson said. “It’s all about Halifax.”
