Mural festival adapts for September run

Eva Wasney By: Eva Wasney Posted:

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Winnipeg’s annual mural festival may be one of the only public events to happen in real life during the coronavirus pandemic this year — albeit with some format changes.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2020 (2257 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s annual mural festival may be one of the only public events to happen in real life during the coronavirus pandemic this year — albeit with some format changes.

Synonym Art Consultation announced Monday that its Wall-to-Wall Mural and Culture Festival will go ahead as planned this September, with dates to be announced later this summer.

Instead of painting multi-storey murals, artists are invited to submit digital designs to be printed on panels and installed around the core area of the city by a local sign company.

Artwork by Dee Barsy and Jordan Bennett affixed to the Canada Life building in 2017. This is an example of how the 2020 Wall-to-Wall Mural and Culture Festival artwork submissions will be installed on buildings around Winnipeg's central neighbourhoods. (Supplied photo by Emily Christie)
Artwork by Dee Barsy and Jordan Bennett affixed to the Canada Life building in 2017. This is an example of how the 2020 Wall-to-Wall Mural and Culture Festival artwork submissions will be installed on buildings around Winnipeg's central neighbourhoods. (Supplied photo by Emily Christie)

“By shifting to a digital submission model, we are keeping artists connected to the public at a safe distance,” Synonym co-director Andrew Eastman said in a release. “We are able to highlight the works of artists we have not been able to as readily in a public setting, such as graphic designers, photographers, and text-based artists.”

Deadline for submissions is Aug. 1. Designs will be selected by Synonym’s new artistic committee and the winners will receive a $1,200 honorarium.

The festival’s mainstay music events will be hosted virtually and will include drag, DJ and dance performances.

Synonym’s second rural mural festival, set to take place in five Manitoba communities and reserves this summer, has been postponed owing to the pandemic.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Emily Christie Winnipeg artist Gibril Bangura works on a painting in 2016. This panel installation is an example of what the 2020 Wall-to-Wall artwork submissions will look like.
Emily Christie Winnipeg artist Gibril Bangura works on a painting in 2016. This panel installation is an example of what the 2020 Wall-to-Wall artwork submissions will look like.
Eva Wasney

Eva Wasney
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Eva Wasney covers environmental issues in Manitoba for The Narwhal in partnership with the Winnipeg Free Press. Read more about Eva.

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Eva Wasney

Eva Wasney
Reporter

Eva Wasney covers environmental issues in Manitoba for The Narwhal in partnership with the Winnipeg Free Press. Read more about Eva.

Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

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