Why you might see more murals around Winnipeg

WINNIPEG -

If you’re taking a walk around Winnipeg, you may notice some new pieces of art adorning the city’s public’s spaces.

This is thanks to the Wall-to-Wall Mural and Culture Festival, an event focused on bringing art into people’s everyday lives.

Chloe Chafe, co-director of the festival, said the event makes art accessible to everyone, no matter their background.

“There’s always barriers to purchasing art, to being in a gallery,” Chafe said.

“So the idea around this festival is to really activate neighbourhoods to empower communities to have artwork right on the streets, in their neighbourhoods, on their block.”

She said having artwork in public spaces is also beneficial to artists, because it gives them opportunities outside of galleries and institutional spaces.

“It leads to a more dynamic career,” she said

Chafe added that the festival gives the artists creative freedom when it comes to their murals.

“The only thing that we say no to is anything that can be discriminatory, violent. We have a whole safer spaces and accountability policy,” she said.

This year the festival has a combination of painted and printed murals.

Chafe noted they introduced the printed mural program during the pandemic, so people didn’t have to travel to create artwork in Winnipeg.

“It was a really safe way for us to send artwork and just safely print it here locally,” Chafe said,