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50 Hastings Boulevard (2)
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This piece entitled 'Run Into Learning' was painted by Sarah Collard in 2011 with sponsorship by Take Pride Winnipeg. The paint began to peel from the wall in 2016 and the Mural was painted over. Original notes follow:
Sarah Collard: "This colourful, vivacious wall is nestled behind residential houses on 50 Hastings Blvd.
It is a part of the Louis Riel School Divison and is a French immersion school with
children learning from grades K-8. It is located in the playground on the upper part of
the gym wall below the basketball courts, beside the soccer field and parking lot.
Hastings school shares the grounds with Ecole Gaboury and if you are standing in the
back of Hastings school, you can get a great view of the Mural. Some of the former
students of Ecole Marie-Anne Gaboury had painted the wall with a rainbow, the school
mascot, parliament building, a bus and teepees but the paint was coming off and it was
time for a fresh look (Ed. note- see RIP section, this address). If you are up early
enough you may see the sun rise over the building and the wall light up as many
morning walkers have commented."
"With a change in mascot, the Principal Marc Poirier wanted students to come up with
the idea for the mural and include a reference to Louis Riel's grandmother, Marie-Anne
Gaboury. Near the end of the year, some grade 7 and 8 students made a list of words
that represented the school: 'the power of MAG', 'respect', 'safe', 'fun', 'sports',
'educational', 'leadership', 'helpful'. A sketch was made of a large book with figures
coming out of it. These figures represented the various subjects in the school such as
computers, science, math, physical education and some of the activities played on the
school yard. The students and principal asked for a Mural that would reflect their school
beliefs, mainly who they are and what they do. Since the school was a part of the Louis
Riel School Division and I previously taught art at George McDowell School (a junior
high school off of St. Mary's Road), I knew the art curriculum and some of the lessons
that Karen Geist, the visual arts consultant had made available to all teachers in the
division. A very popular in-service inspired by Norval Morrisseau, an Aboriginal
Canadian artist who paints legends of his people and stories of his Christian beliefs was
presented to early years teachers. Students used his characteristic thick, black outlines
to create the skeleton of animals and people which were later filled with bright pure
colours. The black line was meant to suggest a continuous contour line dividing good
from evil or one idea from the next. Even though this school has never had an art
specialist, I knew I had to come up with something that was fitting for the school, the
students and the division."
"Run into Learning is an energetic look at some of the activities played on the
school grounds and the learning that happens inside the school. Stylistically it suggests
Aboriginal paintings or children's artwork, the imagination of readers and the real life
energy of young learners. The soccer field and cloudy sky provides a common
background to the composition bringing together the events on the left with the learning
on the right. An orange flying book comes to life with every subject from math,
language arts, computers, physical education, music to art. A scientific specimen is
examined as colours flow from its base, suggesting optics; the basis for colour theory,
mixing everything from three primary colours. As the Mural progresses so does one's
imagination with a fairytale land hiding beneath her chin providing an entrance to
another world. The school words are written in the book as a handbook of beliefs. The
little girl playing blocks is a reference to the daycare located in the school basement. A
portrait of Marie-Anne Gaboury is placed to the right of the new school logo. Two Asian
girls were added to give diversity to the kind of activities played on the playground. The
children running toward the soccer ball suggest the frequent games played on the field
and the energy that many students put into their studies. They have things in common
yet are different. The solid black line that shows up so often in Norval Morrisseau's work
indicates relationships and their interdependence. It also breaks up different ideas for
example active learning verses traditional learning. The simplicity of colour and line
suggests student work which is often bright and brilliant."
"This Mural was fun to paint as I had assistance from the Green Team cleaning and
priming the wall. It was also the first time I used an hydraulic lift which was an
adventure. Unfortunately it was vandalized which required time and money to fix but
overall it was much faster than working with scaffolding and it was fun to operate. The
budget was low so I tried to design something that was simple and easy to paint."
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