Oshawa wants public feedback on future of downtown mural program

Want to have a say on Oshawa’s public mural future?

The City of Oshawa is looking for community feedback to shape a Mural Evaluation Plan for the 15 murals in downtown Oshawa, which were commissioned by the since-disbanded Downtown Action Committee between 1995 and 2001.

Ten of the murals are located on private property.

The City has engaged consultants STEPS Public Art to review and analyze the murals. The Mural Evaluation Plan will complement the Public Art Policy and Public Art Master Plan created by Council in 2015 and 2018, and will include recommendations for the existing downtown murals.

Oshawa has also signed off on a new public art campaign, dubbed the Frame Project, that will see $18,000 invested every two years in new art that will be displayed in large scale frames on exterior walls throughout the downtown.

These new frames will create a connection to the existing downtown murals by using the same “two-dimensional visual language.” Since the art will be reproductions (as opposed to original paintings in the case of a mural), the Frame Project will expand the type and style of work presented, allowing for the presentation of photography, illustration, and digital works. Artwork will be changed periodically.

Residents and business owners can share their feedback on the murals and their hopes for future public art in Oshawa online at Connect Oshawa or on paper at Service Oshawa, located at City Hall. The survey (which takes five minutes to complete) will be open until noon on Tuesday, August 8.