“Imagine This” was an interactive mural project completed in May 2015 in honour of the 50th anniversary of the community of Beaverbrook, a suburb of Kanata, Ontario. The mural was part of the “Sustain Kanata North” program run by EnviroCentre and funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
The task set for the community was to imagine what the neighbourhood will be like fifty years from now in 2065. The intention was to help the residents visualize a hopeful, green, and healthy future for their children and their children’s children.
On May 18, 2015, a homemade (4′ x 8′) canvas was set up in a park with paints, brushes and other supplies. Children and people of all ages were invited to paint directly on the canvas. They also coloured pictures of people and vehicles, and glued them on the canvas.
The background was painted in advance by a young local artist who happens to be my daughter! The background included a library, green space, some pathways, and a mix of housing with the architectural style common to Beaverbrook.
The artist’s vision celebrated inclusivity and diversity with details such as a senior using a walker, a woman wearing a hijab, and teenagers hanging out at school. To reflect various income levels and life stages, the artist painted different housing types such as single family homes, multi-unit rentals, and high-rise apartments.
During the Beaverbrook birthday celebration, children and grown-ups added all kinds of wonderful things to the mural including a farmers’ market, vegetable gardens, roof top gardens, solar panels, giant butterflies, skateboarders, an electric bus and car, lots of people walking and cycling, and a NEW playground for children.
Above is the completed canvas. In the foreground, you can see the Beaverbrook Public Library and the Kanata Seniors Centre. In the background, you can see a corner of Earl of March Secondary School on the left and the old Beaverbrook Mall on the right.
Above is a close-up view. Notice the solar panels and roof top garden.
Another close-up view. Notice the farmers’ market with two sheep, a cow, a koala, a horse and a llama. You can also see two cyclists and the back of an electric bus.
Above is a view of the Beaverbrook Mall with a bakery and coffee shop.
Fifty years ago, when the mall opened, it had a grocery store, pharmacy, bank, restaurant, LCBO, barber shop, and book store. Incidentally, Bill Teron, the original builder of Kanata, designed Beaverbrook on what he dubbed the “tricycle model.” His vision was to have all services in the community accessible to a child on a tricycle. Today, we would call that the 15-minute neighbourhood!
Sadly, over the last twenty years, those businesses moved one-by-one to the arterial roads so that most families feel they have to drive everywhere.
Many residents in Beaverbrook lament this and wish that those businesses would return to the heart of the community. In spring 2023, a bakery opened next door to the mall! Maybe the mural had some effect?!!!
If memory serves, the cost of the materials for the mural was around $250 (paints, the canvas itself was constructed by my husband). I was the community coordinator for Sustain Kanata North from 2015 to 2018.
The mural hung in the Beaverbrook Public Library for about six months after it was completed. The community association is planning to hang the mural in their centre once some renovations are complete.
(Please note, photo permissions were gathered for the use of the image at the top of this page.)
