Over the summer Bendale Acres had a wonderful Intergenerational program that created many special moments. The project was a partnership with VIBE Arts and Bendale Acres (a City of Toronto operated long-term care facility), that continuously strives to establish its footing as a community hub. The mural was created through community consultations held in March 2016 and meetings with VIBE Arts, Bendale staff, community stakeholders, and artists dialogues. Through this process, clear themes emerged that reflected the interests, aspirations, passions and relationships of the local community. The artwork was led by professional artist Sean Martindale along with emerging indigenous youth artists, emerging artists, and volunteers.
The mural includes many themes and aspects important to the evolution of the community and the history of the area by focusing on the nearby Thompson Memorial Park located behind Bendale Acres. The evolution included reflections of the narrative of the land, reaching as far back as the original First Nations caretakers, to the pioneer era with http://forkd.com/user/Paulsen connections to the Scarborough Historical Museum and to the present where we honour the stories of migration in the area including the South Asian, Greek, and Mandarin communities.
The mural is also intended to educate and create community engagement through its process and final product. As the walls come together, so will the community come together. In order to do this, VIBE Arts will ensure that the mural design is reflective of local audiences, and takes into account the direction of the walls. There are two main walls in this mural project that meet at a corner of the building. The east-facing wall is visible to residents as it faces the resident building up the Bendale driveway. The south-facing wall is more visible to the broader community, as it can be seen from a far distance on either side of Lawrence St.
Thank you to our generous supporters:
