Outdoor Murals of Ottawa Canada - Other City Programs

Paint the Pavement

Encouraged by the residents of Pansy Street who have painted a pansy on their short street under cover of darkness since 1997, these murals are produced under a City of Ottawa program that's so new it doesn't have a web page yet. They pose a particular challenge to photograph unless you have a remote-controlled aircraft; here's the best I could do with an old fashioned step ladder and wide angle lens. They'll be short-lived compared to wall murals, but the hope is that the local community will get together and repaint them each year.


[Map]  The site that started it all: Pansy Street (June 2014).


[Map]  Clarendon Street behind Elmdale Public School (June 2014).


[Map]  York Street east of Beausoleil. Photo: City of Ottawa (September 2014).


[Map]  The Woodpark Street Mural is at the corner of Flower & Ancaster in the Woodpark community. (September 2014).


[Map]  A friendly sidewalk to and from St.Gabriel School, 400 Keyrock Dr. Photo: City of Ottawa (September 2014).

Murals on Underpasses

The first ever mural on a provincially controlled bridge in Ontario was completed by stealth; it remained intact because of its superb quality and strong support from the local community. In 2014, Mayor Jim Watson, a former provincial cabinet minister, persuaded the Ontario government to permit more. Current plans are to do two underpasses per year.


[Map]  Metcalfe Street under the Queensway. This is the colourful but visually unfocussed east side, done by Ottawa Urban Arts

the west side of the underpass. Artist: Nicole Belanger


[Map]  Riverside Drive under Bronson Ave. Is this a bas-relief or a mural? It's carved on a panel that is the same colour as the concrete so it's almost invisible to people driving by! It would be fine for a site where people could stand close and touch it, but is mismatched here. Artist: Christopher Griffin
Here's one of the peregrine falcons, contrast-enhanced under side-lighting so you can see it
The south side of the underpass is the same as the west side of Metcalfe St. above.


A Chinese underpass. Might we dream of something like it here?

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