Encouraging diversity through art

Using some paint and the walls of various LRT stations, local artists are hopeful that their art will start a conversation and encourage diversity.

The mural outside of the Art Gallery of Alberta, is meant to pay vigil to the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada. Carla Rae Taylor, the artist behind the mural at Churchill titled ‘Returning Home’, talks about the meaning behind the piece.

“ETS has a campaign called respect all, so I decided to combine the two ideas. The respect all campaign is about bringing all people home safely, so as they’re traveling home from work or wherever on the trains they want to make sure people are coming home safely,” said Taylor. 

The project, ‘Paint the Rails’ is in collaboration with the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights and the ETS. It’s also one of the city’s Canada 150 legacy projects.

“We are kind of quoting Jaime Black’s piece, the ‘Red Dress Project‘. It has become kind of an iconic symbol around Canada, many people have put up dresses in different locations, just to draw attention to the subject, and pay vigil to those Indigenous women.”

The mural at Churchill is just one of five that will be painted in the next year, with more being added at: University, Clareview, Coliseum, Kingsway and Corona. This is aimed at adding a colourful touch to the city’s LRT station.

Each piece takes around nine to ten days to complete. Artist AJA Louden will begin work on the mural at University station in 2018.

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