Shameless Plug: West End BIZ offers GUIDED tours of their Murals, with two different tour packages available: the Sargent Special and the Ellice Explorer. We've done both of them and highly recommend these tours. 2008's Tour Guide is Courtney Black, a very nice young lady who knows her stuff! Tours are available Tuesday through Saturday at any time from 10am - 7pm, no minimum group size necessary, and can be booked with 24 hours advance notice by calling the West End BIZ office at 954-7900.
What's new:

August 27, 2008. Moved 631 Montrose (Tiffany Seymour, 2001) to the RIP section. Added the new 2008 wall that has replaced it here to the Murals section at 631 Montrose (1) (Mary Popien, Friends of Montrose Park).

August 26, 2008. Added 7 photos of new 2008 wall at the Orioles Community Centre Pool House, 444 Burnell (2) (Ben Clarkson); which was one of the 2008 Mural Mentor projects of the West End BIZ. In the Other Outdoor Art section, added glass tile mosaic embellishment of the Elwick Community Centre with 3 photos at 30 Maberley (Dimitry Melman Komar); and 2 mosaic tile installations by Yisa Akinbolaji: a new 2008 installation called Peace and Purpose at 71 Elsbury; and an older 2004 installation, 'Jesus' at 625 College.

August 18, 2008. Added new 2008 wall with 5 photos at the Home Street Playground, 772 Sargent (Michel St. Hilaire, Mandy van Leeuwen); and also added new 2008 wall at 425 St. Anne's (Brock). Moved artwork at 475 St Mary's to the RIP section. Added the 3 winning Bike Rack designs along Broadway to the Other Outdoor Art section: Broadway Bike Racks (1) (Paul Butler and Vanessa Kroeker); Broadway Bike Racks (2) (Paul Robles) and Broadway Bike Racks (3) (Jessica Koroscil). We like this project that combines practicality with Public Art.

August 8, 2008. Added New 2008 artwork at Art City storefront at 616 Broadway (Art City Kids). Moved the former artwork at Art City (Art City Kids, 2002) to the RIP section. Updated new incarnation of Sun Bear (Ken Cade and Chris Roznowski) to the Other Outdoor Art and Mapping Interface Sections.

July 30, 2008. Fixed an issue with the Mural of the Year page where it would occassionally crash under certain obscure but well studied and understood conditions.

July 29, 2008. Moved Name That Bear (B62) to its new location in front of the Manitoba Metis Federation on Henry Avenue, with 2 new photos.

July 25, 2008. Added terrfic Medieval castle facade finish (3 photos) to home at 544 Rosedale (Hubert Theroux) to the Other Outdoor Art section. Added new 2008 wall (3 photos) at Canada Plus Mobile Signs, 221 Logan (Les Mawakeesick).

July 15, 2007. Moved 450 Laxdal (Charlie Johnston, Dave Bezilla, Richard Manoakeesick, Chad Reeves, Vincent Shorting, Nathaniel Bunn, Tara LaQuette, Brandi Williams, Mellissa Honke, Jon Voss, Jeff Burling, 2000) to the RIP section. Added new 2008 wall with 3 photos at Pro-Fab Sunrooms, 342 Nairn (Brad Friesen, Brian Gasenger, Krakr). Added 7 new Spirit Way Wolves at the Historic Rail Bridge at the Forks to the Other Outdoor Art section starting here. Rendering artists of the new Wolves were Guy St. Godard (2), Dianne Scoles, Jackie Traverse, Luther Pokrant, Charlie Johnston and Kal Barteski. Retired 2 of the earlier Spirit Way Wolves from section of the website that are no longer in Winnipeg. Also added another new Spirit Way Wolf at Wellington School.

July 11, 2008. Moved 1021 Winnipeg (GAP, Pat Lazo, Fred Thomas, Patrick Wong, 1999) and 519 Ellice (Signs & Wonders, 2001) to the RIP section.

July 10, 2008. June set a new record for web traffic at this site- an average of 190.73 visits per day. What makes this even more remarkable to me is the fact that our web server was DOWN, yielding ZERO traffic for almost the entire weekend of June 7-8. Needless to say, we are very pleased that the site is as useful to people as it appears to be!

June 23, 2008. Mural of the Year for 2007 announced. Our thanks go out to the 32 judges who did a great job this year in selecting our annual award. The judges were: Rick Dreger, Digital Photographic Retoucher; Tom Ethans, Executive Director, Take Pride Winnipeg!; Alyson Wiebe, Customer Service Assistant, Casana Furniture; Bill Coe, Retired; 40 years in Property/Casualty Insurance Industry; Bob Buchanan, The Murals of Winnipeg website; Louise Buchanan, The Murals of Winnipeg website; Catherine Senegal, Manager Media Relations, Travel Manitoba; Katharina Stieffenhofer, art coordinator, "The Heaven Project"; Paul Armstrong, www.manitoba-eh.ca website; Bill Fugler, owner, The Neigbourhood Book Store & Café; Doneta Brotchie, owner, FUNdamentals-Creative Ventures; Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner, Executive Director, West End BIZ; Ken Gabel, CKY photojournalist; Chris Lillies, Assistant Store Manager; Sobey's; Don Fotti, Jr,. Systems Support Technician, U of M; John Steel, Retired; former Executive Director, St. James BIZ; Erin Nuttall, Past Coordinator, Winnipeg International Mural Fest 2K6 and 2K7; Jodi Gilmore, Researcher, Manitoba Labour Board; Shirlee Blackman, Proud Grandmother; Myron Bielak, Retired Railway Supervisor; Steve Wilson, Executive Director, Graffiti Arts Programming, Graffiti Gallery; Daryl Dumanski, Executive Director, Forum Art Institute; Shirley Haynes, Student in Aboriginal Languages/Education, RRC/UW; Nicole Collette, Translation Coordinationer for a Translation Service Company; Dennis Adams, Photo radar operator, City of Winnipeg; Val Betker, Resource Development Manager, Junior Achievement Manitoba; Jan Middleton, Assistant, Biochemistry & Medical Genetics, U of M; Linda Rodgers, retired teacher; Michael Ledda, artist; Sharon Cory, Visual Artist; Jeanette Jerome, freelance artist, muralist; Carol Kirkhope retired school secretary.

June 22, 2008. Moved 1249 Plessis (Frank Megyesi, 2002) to the RIP section.

June 13, 2008. Added new 2008 wall at John M. King School with 3 photos at 525 Agnes (2) (Alison Froese, John M. King Students).

May 21, 2008. It is with great pleasure that we post a 2008 update to our research on the Long Tramp Mural, with 2 additional photos in support of our research, uncovering the identity and details about the original artist of the original 1936 incarnation of the Carman Ruttan Long Tramp Mural (and NO it was not Carman Ruttan who painted it).

May 12, 2008. Added new 2008 tribute Mural to The Guess Who at Long & McQuade at 651 Stafford (2) (Larry Rich).

May 6, 2008. Moved 626 Main (Anders Swanson, 2006) to the RIP section. Added new 2008 walls (2 photos) at 195 Provencher (Michel Saint Hilaire, Mandy van Leeuwen.)

April 29, 2008. Louise and I recently had the pleasure of travelling to Sheffield, Tasmania to attend the 2008 Global Mural Conference there. It was a fantastic trip, and we learned a fair bit about how they do things down under. We met lots of nice people and witnessed the quite successful Mural Fest that they run each year there, which has given me a number of ideas...

March 17, 2008. Moved 661 Corydon (Jill Sellers, 1999), and Wellington & CN underpass (Paul Ullrich, 1996), to the RIP section. Added commentary by Sarah Collard for her 2007 murals at 390 Graham, 424 Graham and 241 Vaughan.

February 27, 2008. Added new Artist Profile and portfolio selections for Sarah Collard.

February 26, 2008. Moved 958 John Bruce (Lise LaRochelle, 2000) to the RIP section. Added remarks by Pat Lazo and Cyrus Smith for their wall at 309 Wardlaw.

February 24, 2008. Added a very special wall to the RIP section at 175 McDermot (Special); an old-timey graffiti wall dating back to 1889 that was uncovered by staff at UN Luggage performing renovations there. I've included 6 photos of the wall, along with commentary by owner Jon Theissen and a few of my own thoughts.

February 23, 2008. Moved 58 Albert (Jason Doll, 1995), and 175 McDermot (Simon Hughes, 1997), to the RIP section.

February 11, 2008. Added commentary by Eugene Boittiaux for his controller boxes at 433 Graham and at Graham & Fort.

February 4, 2008. Tim and Connie Friesen (AVEC Arts) have posted their terrific video of our Mural in a Day to YouTube. You can view it here. Some/most/all (I'm not sure which) of the music you hear while watching the video was composed by Mural in A Day participants (primarily Richard Smith and Nicholas Gibson) that day with fun software on Tim's laptop. We are very grateful to Portage Place Mall for providing us with the venue, and to the Fairmont Winnipeg for Tim and Connie's accomodations.

Also, added a completely updated all new profile for artist Michel St. Hilaire. Moved 619 Broadway (Freya Olafson, Art City Kids, 2006), 562 Ellice (Signs & Wonders, 2000), and 154 Young (G.W. Lenard, 1996); all to the RIP section. Added comments by Tom Andrich for his controller box at Graham & Edmonton.

January 31, 2007. Added new 2007 Mural at Brown Locksmith, 164 Fort. Moved 294 Fort (Dwayne Ball, Dave Ficzycz, 2002) to the RIP section. Added commentary by Charlie Johnston for his Jesus/The Worshipper 2007 Murals at 710 Madeline and the Manitoba Hydro Mural at 1637 Portage.

January 18, 2007. Webcounter on entrance page hits 100,000 sometime in the last 48 hours. This webcounter is an extremely conservative indicator of web traffic as our own web stats show the majority of visits are from links or from bookmarks to pages inside the site. Our webstats show 50,651 visits in 2007 generating 53.46 Gigs of bandwidth. The heaviest month was October with 186.74 visits /day with a range from as low as 106 visits to as high as 459 visits. The lightest month was February.

January 7, 2008. Added new slideshow on entrance page- a selection from Winnipeg's 2007 Murals. Added additional commentary by Ian August for Bears on Main Street; and a short commentary on his wall at 653 Sargent. Added 1 extra photo and additional commentary by Cyrus Smith for his wall at 215 Logan, including a great little informal walkthough of the Mural; and brief comments on his Transit Signal Controller Box at Graham & Vaughan.

November 27, 2007. Added new 2007 artwork on Transit Signal Controller Box at Graham & Vaughan (Cyrus Smith).

November 18, 2007. Added new 2007 outdoor walls at Assiniboine Zoo: The Monkey House, 460 Assiniboine PK (5); The Zoo Office (3 photos), 460 Assiniboine PK (6); and the Tiger Enclosure, 460 Assiniboine PK (7); all by Mandy van Leeuwen and Michel St. Hilaire. Mandy and Michel have been painting at the Zoo for almost 2 years. We encourage any viewers who enjoy these pieces to check out their INDOOR Zoo Mural work at the Tropical House and Kinsmen Centre, which, although outside the scope and mandate of this website, is arguably even more stunning than the outdoor work shown here. Added new photo to reflect Lonesome Wolf (Kal Barteski) at its new location at KYUR Concrete, 1029 Dugas. Deleted the four Spirit Way Wolves now no longer in Winnipeg.

November 17, 2007. Added overview commentary by Annie Bergen on the 'Transformation' Community Project wall at Red Road Lodge. Moved Assiniboine Zoo Monkey Enclosure Mural (Charlie Johnston, 2002) to the RIP section. Added new 2007 wall (Polar Bear Enclosure) with 4 photos at 460 Assiniboine Park (3) (Mandy van Leeuwen, Michel St. Hilaire). Added new 2007 wall at Long & McQuade, 651 Stafford (Larry Rich).

November 13, 2007. Added new photo to reflect Spirit Way Wolf The Road Home (Patrick Ross) at its new permanent home at Gardewine North.

November 11, 2007. Added commentary by Dorothy Roberts for the wall at Luxton Community Centre. In Other Outdoor Art section replaced originals photos of Spirit Way Wolves Amaroq (Charlie Johnston) and Tip of the Iceberg (Charlie Johnston) with new photos at their permanent locations at Calm Air, 50 Morberg Way and The Vault Gallery, 2181 Portage, respectively. Added new 2007 Transit Controller Box at 320 Graham (Anders Swanson). Added new 2007 wall with 8 photos at 424 Graham (Sarah Collard-Wiebe). Added new 2007 wall at Spectra Productions with 4 photos at 309 Wardlaw (Dean Thomas, Cyrus Smith, Pat Lazo). With sadness we move one of our favourite Murals, 349 Wardlaw (Simone Laser, 1999) to the RIP section.

Also added new 2007 wall of The Occidental Hotel/Red Road Lodge with 21 photos at 631 Main (2) ( Annie Bergen, Lee Holleron, Suzanne Stobbe, Judy Schellenberg, Alerry Lavitt, Sherry, Darlene Drewniak, Marilyn Ashley Amarila, Brock Crawford, Gordon Kent, Marjorie Christie, Erica Holloway, Kelvin Free, Marcus Bauer, Becky-Lynne Thiessen, Kate Dykman, Melanie Hyska, James Ferguson, Laurie Green, Angelene Jeanette, Vincent Shorting) , with comments on their individual pieces by Darlene Drewnick (photo 7), Annie Bergen (photo 9), Marjorie Christie (photo 12) Kelvin Free (photo 14) Marcus Bauer (photo 15), Kate Dykman (photo 17) and Angeline Jeanette (photo 20).

November 6, 2007. Added 3 additional photos and commentary by Guide Leader Darlene Daley on the Guiding Mural at Kingston Row & Dunkirk (2).

November 5, 2007. It is with great sadness that we move The Winnipeg Falcons Mural (Mandy van Leeuwen, Michel St. Hilaire, 2005) to the RIP section. This wall was selcted by our panel of independent judges as our Mural of the Year for 2005. Added new 2007 walls at Luxton Community Centre with 3 photos at 210 St. Cross (Dorothy Roberts, Luxton Kids) and at Western Profiles Limited with 5 photos at 154 Paramount (Jennifer Johnson, Carolyn Burnet). In Other Outdoor Art section replaced original photo of Power Wolf (Judith Panson) with one at its permanent location at Eecol Electric.

November 3, 2007. Website traffic for this site hit new highs in October: there were 5789 visits by 4470 unique visitors- an average of 186.74 visits per day- all record highs. Added new 2007 wall at Pictures Frames & More at 418 Graham (Rodrigo Pradel, Brad Friesen). Added new 2007 traffic signal controller boxes at Graham & Kennedy (Rodrigo Pradel); in front of Royal Winnipeg Ballet building at Graham & Edmonton (Tom Andrich); and at Graham & Smith (Rodrigo Pradel); and a new 2007 Transit Controller Box at Graham & Garry (Rodrigo Pradel).

October 22, 2007. Added 1 photo (photo 2) at 98 Riel to reflect the addition of Mario at the bottom of Spidey's telephone pole. Added new 2007 wall at North American Lumber with 5 photos at 309 Bond (Transcona Children).

October 13, 2007. Moved 3036 Main (Frank Megyesi, 2002) to the RIP section. Added new 2007 wall at European School of Aesthetics with 2 photos at 241 Vaughan Street (2) (Sarah Collard-Wiebe).

October 8, 2007. Added commentary by Macdonald Youth Services Executive Director Erma Chapman for their wall at 175 Mayfair (Cody Starr); and added brief comments by Tom Andrich for the Knowles Centre wall. Added comments by Jason Granger for the Art City wall at 612 Broadway.

October 5, 2007. Added 2 new 2007 Transit Signal Boxes: 'Mona Lisa and Whistler's Mother with Transfers' with 3 photos at 433 Graham (Eugene Boittiaux); and at Graham & Donald (Rodrigo Pradel).

October 2, 2007. Added a new, larger, and more salient Help Button to the Mapping Interface Section, to encourage web visitors to learn more about all of the powerful features of our Mapping Interface. If you've never taken the time to learn about all its features, I strongly encourage you to do so. With a little learning and practice, you'll be astounded at how much you can do, and why our mapping interface kicks ass!

September 30, 2007. Added new 2007 wall, 'Youth of Today, Cities of Tomorrow' at Broadway Pawn Shop with 4 photos at 612 Broadway (Art City Kids, Jennie O'Keefe, Eddie Ayoub). Added new 2007 Transit Signal Box with 4 photos at 390 Graham (Sarah Collard-Wiebe).

September 29, 2007. Added 9 new Art on the Avenue sculptures along Portage and Graham Avenues to the Other Outdoor Art section. Art on the Avenue is an initiative of The Downtown BIZ that began in 2006 with 10 pieces. Removed the single 2006 piece so far that is no longer on the street from that section. Added brief commentaries by Annie Bergen to her 2007 walls at Luxton School, Argyle Alternative High School and at the St. James Hotel.

September 25, 2007. Added new 2007 wall at the Knowles Centre with 3 photos at 2065 Henderson (Tom Andrich), along with commentary by Knowles Centre staff Maureen Britton and Juana Schoch. Added new 2007 wall at Metis Child Family and Community Services with 6 photos at 1261 Main (Darryle Caribou).

September 12, 2007. Added new 2007 wall at St. Vital Bridge underpass, with 2 photos at Kingston Row & Dunkirk (2) (Glenview/Riverview Girl Guides).

September 3, 2007. Added new 2007 wall at The St. James Hotel, with 4 photos at 1717 Portage (Annie Bergen); and added new 2007 pair of Murals, "Jesus" and "The Worshipper" at Tabor Baptist Church with 8 photos at 710 Madeline (Charlie Johnston).

September 2, 2007. Added new 2007 wall, West End BIZ's 7th Mural Mentorship project, 'We Are The World', with 7 photos at J.S. Furniture, 640 Ellice (Rachel Schappert), along with commentary by Rachel Schappert.

August 28, 2007. Added commentary by Michael Bridgford-Read on the Guess Who Mural at 1400 Main.

August 21, 2007. Added new 2007 wall at Manitoba Hydro substation with 5 photos at 1637 Portage (Charlie Johnston, McKim Cringan George). Added "Teach the Young" bus stop bench at 393 Sherbrook (Cliff Dubois, 2003) to the Other Outdoor Art section. We believe this addition completes the set of six benches. This one had gotten into a motor vehicle accident and was off the street for a while.

August 20, 2007. Added the 10 Spirit Way Wolves at the Forks to the Other Outdoor Art Section, starting with Lonesome Wolf (Kal Barteski). The Wolves at The Forks is a Spirit Way initiative from Thompson, Manitoba. Twenty four wolf statues were created in Thompson in 2006 along the Spirit Way pathway, a major tourist attraction under development. 'From the Wolves to the Whales' is the theme for Manitobans to experience the beauty and uniqueness of their own province from Winnipeg to Thompson to Churchill. Please try to get down to the Forks to see the wolves- they will be migrating North to Thompson on September 24th. For more information on the Spirit Way project, visit http://www.thompsonspiritway.ca

August 2, 2007. Added the last 2 new 2007 walls from Mural Fest 2K7: nine photos of 'Moron War On' at 215 Logan (Cyrus Smith); and 11 photos of 'Bears on Main Street' at 600 Main (Ian August).

August 1, 2007. Added new 2007 walls from Mural Fest 2K7: 12 photos of 'Women for Peace and Environment' on the Confederation Builing at 457 Main (Bert Monterona) along with a full commentary by Bert, and 8 photos at the McLaren Hotel at 554 Main (Jesse Reno), with commentary by Jesse.

July 29, 2007. Added new 2007 wall at Macdonald Youth Services, 175 Mayfair (Cody Starr). Added 9 photos of new 2007 wall, 'Mental Distortion' at the Bate Building, 221 McDermot (Marco Scarpato), with commentary by Marco.

July 28, 2007. Added new 2007 wall of Mural In A Day with 19 photos at The Occidental Hotel, 631 Main (Tim & Connie Friesen plus over 100 painters), along with commentary by Tim & Connie. Added Dennis Bell's 3 giant poppies painted on the side of a residence at 91 Normand Park Drive to the Other Outdoor Art section.

July 23, 2007. Added a new feature to the site where you can lookup and see the status of Murals in progress. Under the Year lookup table, scroll down to the end of the table and select 'in progress', then hit the 'go' button. My primary purpose for doing this was to provide fairly up-to-the-minute coverage of the current state of the 5 Mural Fest 2K7 Murals, but have also decided to feature other Murals in progress as well; since one question I'm often asked is 'where are the new Murals in progress'. This feature answers that question...

Also moved the following walls to the RIP section: 347 Doncaster (Winnipeg MFRC Youth Services, 2002); 1465 Maroons (Charlie Johnston, The Big Picture, 1998); 1581 Pembina (Belle Fosh Signs, Darryl Szydlik, 1999); 805 Henderson (Frank Meygesi, 2002); and 204 Day (Dan Sawatsky, 1991-2). Added the following new 2007 finished walls: 4 photos of the Guess Who Mural at 1400 Main (Michael Bridgford-Read, Marymound and St John's HS students); and 8 photos at the McLaren Hotel wall at 554 Main (Jesse Reno); along with his commentary on his piece.

June 27, 2007. Moved 29 Marlene (Owen Carpenter, Ian August, Tom King, 2002), 3494 Pembina (St Norbert Art Foundation, 1990) and 630 Notre Dame Avenue (Sky Richard, 2002) to the RIP section. Added walls at 29 Marlene and at 31 Marlene (2), both by Tom King. Added our original Press Release for the 2006 Mural of the Year as the site writeup for that wall. Added new 2007 walls at 705 Broadway and 2 photos at 3494 Pembina (Katimavik Young Adults).

June 19, 2007. Moved 702 Broadway (2002) to the RIP section. Added new 2007 wall at 246 St. Anne's (Louis Bako, Daniel Hrishewich).

June 18, 2007. Mural of the Year for 2006 announced. Our thanks go out to the 37 judges who once again did a great job and chose such a worthy recipient of this award. The judges were: Paul Armstrong, www.manitoba-eh.ca website; Myron Bielak, Retired Railway Supervisor; Shirlee Blackman, Proud Grandmother; Doneta Brotchie, 2005 Project Manager, Bears on Broadway; Bob Buchanan, The Murals of Winnipeg website; Louise Buchanan, The Murals of Winnipeg website; Bill Coe, Retired; 40 years in Property/Casualty Insurance Industry; Sharon Cory, Visual Artist; Delsie Cousineau, Retired Postal Clerk; D. Joseph Creighton, Systems Analyst, U of M.; Rick Dreger, Digital Photographic Retoucher; Don Fotti, Jr., Systems Support Technician, U of M; Tom Ethans, Executive Director, Take Pride Winnipeg!; Jodi Gilmore, Researcher, Manitoba Labour Board; Laura Isbister, Office Manager, Manitoba Labour Board; Chris Lillies, Groceries Manager, Sobeys; Erin Nuttall, Events Coordinator, Graffiti Arts Programming; John Steel, Retired; former Executive Director, St. James BIZ; Shirley Haynes, Student in Aboriginal Languages/Education, RRC/UW; Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner, Executive Director, West End BIZ; Alyson Wiebe, Customer Service Assistant, Casana Furniture; Catherine Senegal, Manager Media Relations, Travel Manitoba; Sarah Wiebe, artist, muralist; Katharina Stieffenhofer, art coordinator, "The Heaven Project"; Jane Cansino, student, University of Manitoba; Josie Tremblay, artist, muralist, comic book store owner; Linda Rodgers, retired teacher; Jeanette Jerome, freelance artist, muralist; Bill Fugler, owner, The Neigbourhood Book Store & Café; Jason Doll, artist,.animator; Ken Gabel, CTY photojournalist; Dennis Adams, Photo radar operator, City of Winnipeg; Wayne Warren, Informatics Consultant; Larry Spittle, artist, Art Director in Film Industry; Regan Philpott, artist, muralist; George Morrison, Winnipeg Transit Driver; Daryl Dumanski Executive Director, Forum Art Institute

June 8, 2007. In the Mapping Interface Section, updated the Bears Beyond Broadway location thumbnails to reflect their current locations; because I had to create each thumbnail manually I'd put this task off for almost a full year! Updated email address for Jill Sellers on her Artist Profile Page. Moved 510 Portage (2) (Pat Lazo, Mike Johnston et al., 2005) and 1112 Notre Dame (Pepe, 2001) to the RIP section.

June 2, 2007. Added commentary by Mandy van Leeuwen and Michele St. Hilaire for the Harry Lehotsky wall. Added brief commentary by Selam Grocery owner Tefari Nega for the Nation of Ethiopia wall. Added a link from Michel St. Hilaire's Artist Profile page to his new website. Added 1 photo to reflect Jill Seller's 2007 extension of her 2003 scene at Osborne Underpass (1).

May 31, 2007. Added two new walls at Argyle Alternative High School- 11 photos of A History of Argyle School (Argyle Students, Annie Bergen, Tom Andrich), and 4 photos of the front entrance wall at the school 30 Argyle (2). Added new 2007 wall (2 photos) at Luxton School, 111 Polson (Annie Bergen). Swapped out portfolio photos for Mandy van Leeuwen's Artist Profile with newer ones. Moved 996 St. Mary's (Frank Megyesi, 2003) to the RIP section.

April 27, 2007. Added additional commentary by Dolores Lorhenz, president of the MCC Thrift stores, on the Migration of the Mennonites wall. Moved 1637 Portage (2) (Signs & Wonders, Steve Loney, Dave Penner, Darryl Szydlik, 2002) to the RIP section.

April 22, 2007. Replaced portfolio selections for Dennis Bell's Artist Profile with newer works. Added brief commentary by Mike Valcourt on the Age & Opportunity Mural. Added commentary by Annie Bergen for her walls at Cookatoo's (1069 Sargent) and at MCC Thrift (859 Sargent). Added commentary by Dennis & Diane Bell for their wall at Dr. D. W. Penner School. Added commentary by Reid Edgeworth for his walls at École St. Avila (633 Patricia), and for his second (2005) and third (2006) Murals at Neptune's Fisheries.

April 11, 2007. Added additional commentary by Mike Valcourt on his Jackson Beardy/Woodlands Group of Seven Mural; and some brief remarks on the MPI Murals. Added link in Regan Philpot's profile to Regan's website.

March 7, 2007. Added artist profile for Annie Bergen. Moved 159 Osborne (Pat Lazo, 2000) and 1825 Main (Susan Mitchell, 1990) to the RIP section. Added new 2006 Mural at 2181 Portage (Charlie Johnston). Added new 2007 Mural at 817 Main (Roger Dorian, Graffiti Arts Programmimg).

January 8, 2007. Added new slideshow on entrance page- a selection of Winnipeg's 2006 Murals.

December 17, 2006. Added commentary by Anders Swanson and 1 additional image (photo 3) pertaining to his Three Sisters Mural. Moved 988 Main (Dennis & Diane Bell, 2001) AND 1031 Marion (Dave Bezilla, 1995) to the RIP section. Added a critical but overlooked update for Spidey (newer photo & story) at 646 Victor.

November 26, 2006. Added 2 additional photos pertaining to and commentary by Jason Doll for his 1995 Mural at Albert St. Burgers at 58 Albert.

November 21, 2006. Added new 2006 wall with 13 photos at at Nygård Fashion World at 145 Market (Jill Sellers, Peter Tetrault, Dave Penner and Dennis Bell). Also added 2 more 2006 Murals commissioned by Manitoba Public Insurance at Pal's Supermarket, 619 Broadway (Art City Kids, Freya Olafson) and at GoJo Gym, 936 Sherbrook (Rossbrook House Kids, Julia Wake).

November 11, 2006. Added new 2006 commercial mural at Millennium Auto Body at 3797 Portage (Charlie Johnston).

November 6, 2006. Added new 2006 wall (2 photos) at École St. Avila, 633 Patricia (Reid Edgeworth). Added additional photos to reflect the extension of 3 of the Osborne Underpass Scenes in 2006 from the original 2003 renderings. Added 136 Glenwood (Charlotte Livingston) to the Other Outdoor Art section..

October 21, 2006. In the Other Outdoor Art section added the garage artwork by Kay Visch at 289 Glenwood; and the excellent signage by Charlie Johnston for The Neighbourhood Bookstore and Cafe at 898 Westminster with remarks by owner Bill Fugler. Added new 2006 walls: 8 photos of the large Mural and beautification of the plaza at Gas Station Theatre, 445 River (2); and 3 photos of the Ethiopia themed Mural at Selam Grocery at 714 Ellice (Jennifer Johnson, Carolyn Burnet). Added a 3rd photo at unveiling of 'Together' Mural, plus added commentary by Allison Chubb.

October 13, 2006. Added new 2006 wall (6 photos) at Sargent MCC Thrift Store, 859 Sargent (Annie Bergen). Added additional photo showing the current redeployment of Rene Lanthier's French Masters Murals (2005) at 165 Provencher. Added 5 new photos reflecting the 2006 restoration of the Jackson Beardy Peace and Harmony Murals (Leo Neilson [Sweetpea] and Emily Amos) at the Indian Family Centre at 470 Selkirk.

October 8, 2006. Added commentary by Tom Andrich for his 1919 Winnipeg Strike mural and his A & W Mural. Added new 2006 walls at Mija's Fashions (2 photos), 520 Sargent (Allison Chubb); and 2 photos at Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre 472 Selkirk (2) (Kathleen Fonseca).

September 23, 2006. Added new 2006 wall at Cookatoo's Restaurant with 7 photos at 1118 Sargent (Annie Bergen). Moved Main & Higgins underpass (15) (Sharon Hall, 1996) and 1118 Pembina (Jenny Tasker, Krisjana Wood and Amanda Smart, 1997) to the RIP section.

September 18, 2006. Added new 2006 walls at Thriftlodge (Canadiana) Motor Inn with 4 photos of "A Film By Guy Maddin" at 1400 Notre Dame (Charlie Johnston); and at Whistle Pig Drive-In with 3 photos at 102 Victoria E (Kristinn Walsh) with commentary by the artist.

September 13, 2006. Added Jellybean Park (Erica Swendrowski) to the Other Outdoor Art section, completing the set for the 10 piece Art on the Avenue Sculpture Walk. Added Snow Angel- Honour Bear (Charlie Johnston) to the side of CancerCare Manitoba's building, completing the set for Bears Beyond Broadway. We've been waiting for each to be back out on the street. Added new 2006 Mural with 2 photos at U of M Faculty of Social Work; U of W Faculty of Education and Extended Learning at 485 Selkirk (2) (Chandra Dexter), with commentary by the artist.

September 4, 2006. I received a rather cool email today fronm a visually impaired fellow, Steve, who enjoys the site. Steve likes making animated GIFs and did a great one of the Long Tramp. You can see it here. If you like it, please take some time to check out the rest of his site.

September 1, 2006. Added 9 of the 10 Art on the Avenue Sculptures along Portage Avenue to the Other Outdoor Art section, starting here, an initiative of Downtown Winnipeg BIZ. Added wall with 2 photos at Arthur Wright School, 1520 Jefferson (Lita Fontaine). Added new 2006 walls at Margaret Park School with 2 photos at 385 Cork; and at KÃNI KÃNĨCHIHK INC. (3 photos) at 455 McDermot; both by Lita Fontaine. Lita provides commentary on all three walls.

August 26, 2006. Added 2 new 2006 walls for Manitoba Public Insurance at Boys and Girls Club (Aberdeen) at 415 Stella and at Weston Community Centre at 1625 Logan, both by Julia Wake. Added more 2006 walls at Isaac Newton School, 730 Aberdeen (Isaac Newton Students); at Canada Vacuum (3 photos) at 572 Broadway (2) (Darlene 'Toots' Toews and Art City Kids); and 2 photos of Blondie's Car Wash at 176 Watson (Derik Ing).

August 16, 2006. Added new 2006 walls at 171 Claremont (Jill Sellers, 3 photos); and a third project for Reid Edgeworth at Neptune Fisheries (they obviously like him!) at 472 Dufferin (3). Hey, we like him too!

August 15, 2006. Added 4 photos of new 2006 wall at Harvest Bakery at 180 St. Anne's (Hubert Theroux). We are very pleased to have this opportunity to feature this Mural by Hubert- he is an accomplished artist and Muralist with many Murals throughout rural Manitoba. This is his first outdoor Mural in Winnipeg, and we hope there will be many more! Added 6 photos of new 2006 wall at Dr. DW Penner School, 121 Hazelwood (Dennis Bell & Diane Bell).

August 14, 2006. Added new 2006 walls which were part of Mural Fest 2K6- 15 photos of Cartography for New Cosmopolitans in the Manitoba Museum outdoor courtyard at 190 Rupert (Yonke Public Art- Alberto Morachis & Guadalupe Serrano) with synopsis and commentary by both artists; 13 photos of The 1919 Winnipeg Strike on The Empire Cabaret at 436 Main (Tom Andrich); and 10 photos of Three Sisters on the Starland Theatre at 626 Main (Anders Swanson) with synopsis by the artist.

August 12. 2006. Added 2 new 2006 walls which were part of Mural Fest 2K6- 12 photos of the Tribute to Jackson Beardy and the Woodlands Group of Seven at Forks Historic Walking Bridge (Mike Valcourt) with a synopsis by Mike Valcourt; and 13 photos of Sentez! on the Fairmont Hotel, at 2 Lombard (Yannick Picard), with synopsis and commentary by Yannick Picard..

August 7, 2006. Updated headshots for Mandy van Leeuwen, Michel St. Hilaire and Mike Valcourt in the Artist Profiles section.

July 24, 2006. Moved 315 St. Anne's (Bill McMahon) to the RIP section. Added 112 Ashland (Josie Tremblay) with 2 photos to the Other Outdoor Art section. Also added artwork at Margaret Scott Skateboard Park at 825 Alfred (Fred Thomas, Kyte Thimsen) with 2 photos to the Other Outdoor Art Section. Added new 2006 wall at The Up Shoppe at 384 Selkirk (Cheyenne Henry). Also added the new 2006 Harry Lehotsky Mural with 10 photos at 518 Maryland (Mandy van Leeuwen & Michael St. Hilaire).

July 23, 2006. In the Murals section, changed all the 'Location Map' links to point to our own mapping interface rather than to Yahoo or Mapquest. This also applies to the Bears beyond Broadway in the Other Outdoor Art section. Added 2 photos (photos 2 and 12) to 134 Marion (Mandy van Leeuwen & Michael St. Hilaire) to reflect the completion of the final phase of the Norwood Legion Murals in 2006. Added 98 Baltimore (Sarah Michaelson) to the Other Outdoor Art section. Added 122 Baltimore and 3 photos at Park Theatre 698 Osborne ( both by Josie Tremblay) to the Murals section.

July 15, 2006. Moved 469 St. Anne's (Frank Meygesi, 2003) to the RIP section. Added new 2006 Mural (2 photos) at Wellington School, 690 Beverley (Wellington School students) with commentary by Rhian Brynjolson. Added a new Bear Beyond Broadway (3 photos) in front of Pantages Playhouse (Agnes Jorgensen)

July 14, 2006. Added new 2006 walls at A & W Restaurant (4 photos), 1520 Portage (Tom Andrich) with commentary; and at John Henderson Junior High by the art sudents at 930 Brazier. Added garage at 76 Lloyd to the Other Outdoor Art section.

June 26, 2006. Mural of the Year for 2005 announced. My thanks to the 34 independent judges who did a great job to select such a worthy winner. The judges were: David Angus, President, Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce; Paul Armstrong, www.manitoba-eh.ca website; Myron Bielak, Retired Railway Supervisor; Shirlee Blackman, Proud Grandmother; Doneta Brotchie, 2005 Project Manager, Bears on Broadway; Bob Bruce, Programmer, Geomatics Engineer, Province of Manitoba; Bob Buchanan, The Murals of Winnipeg website; Louise Buchanan, The Murals of Winnipeg website; Bill Coe, Retired; 40 years in Property/Casualty Insurance Industry; Rev. Jeff Cook, Minister, Transcona Memorial United Church; Sharon Cory, Visual Artist; Delsie Cousineau, Retired Postal Clerk; D. Joseph Creighton, Systems Analyst, U of M.; Alison Czarnecki, Corporate Communications; Canad Inns; Rick Dreger, Digital Photographic Retoucher; Don Fotti, Jr., Systems Support Technician, U of M; Tom Ethans, Executive Director, Take Pride Winnipeg!; Jodi Gilmore, Researcher, Manitoba Labour Board; Laura Isbister, Office Manager, Manitoba Labour Board; Chris Lillies, Groceries Manager, Sobeys; George Morrison, Bus Driver, Winnipeg Transit; Erin Nuttall, Events Coordinator, Graffiti Arts Programming; Tim Rhind, Winnipeg Police Officer; Robert Riel, Principal, Argyle Alternative High School; Bert Schaffer, Past President, Manitoba Camera Club; Terry Smythe, Player Piano and Roll Scanner Enthusiast; John Steel, Retired; former Executive Director, St. James BIZ; Laurie Thompson, Executive Director, Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety; Susan Tremblay, Human Resources, Agriculture Canada; Shirley Haynes, Student in Aboriginal Languages/Education, RRC/UW; Trudy Turner, Executive Director, West End BIZ; Mike Valcourt, Artist, Muralist; and Alyson Wiebe, Customer Service Assistant, Palliser Furniture.

June 15, 2006. Added new 2006 walls (4 photos) at 605 Main (Tiffany Seymour).

June 8, 2006. Added new 2006 wall (4 photos) at JB Mitchell School at 1920 John Brebeuf; with commentary by artist Annie Bergen. Added 734 Kildare W and private garage on Greene Avenue (Rhianne Favelle) to the Other Outdoor Art Section

May 29, 2006. Updated Profile on Mike Valcourt..

As most Winnipeggers have heard, The Bears on Broadway are back(!), in more or less their permanent locations. We've been out and about reshooting the Bears in their new locations as well as plotting their locations on our own Mapping Interface. For those keeping score, 56 of the original 61 Bears are back. The other 5 are in their permanent homes beyond our city's borders: 1 in Gimli (along with another newly minted Bear just for them (!)), 1 at a private cottage in Kenora, 1 on a private farm, 1 in Churchhill, and 1 on the Queen Charlotte Islands, BC.

To date, all Bears but 3 have been shot in their new locations (for those 3 we have used photos at their original locations). This includes a couple that aren't at all easily accessible to the public- we still want you to be able to see them. Those three we are waiting for them to arrive at their locations but have been plotted on our maps. All Winnipeg Bears can be seen, both in the Other Outdoor Art section and also with the Mapping Interface.

Louise and I have loved the Bears Project, and have tried to support it as much as possible. A few words about the Bears Mapping Interface. This mapping tool for the Bears is not intended to replace or even be as good an overview as CancerCare's own Bears map and list which we recommend for the BEST overview of the Bears (download the May 2006 .pdf file from their website). Since there are 2 areas in the city which contain a high density of Bears, we have made our default zoom range 1:750 which works great when viewing any of those bears (any further out range would flood the screen with bear symbols overlapping one another). However, it's rather close in if you're viewing an isolated bear, so you'll have to zoom out (use the Zoom Out tool) to get perspective of where you are. Also, we've used the original Bears numbers from 2005, and not the renumbered Bears in their May 2006 map since the former are the numbers our database uses. Anyway, we sincerely hope you all enjoy the Bears both here and in person for many years to come.

April 25, 2001. Added entry to RIP section for Villa Veterinary Clinic at 1793 Portage (M. J. Willard, 1991). Moved 101 Melrose W (Frank Megyesi, 2001), 474 Mountain (Sherri Malazdrewick, Crystal Dueck, 1999), 1295 Pembina (Signs & Wonders, Darryl Szydlik, 1999) and 432 Assiniboine (Timothy Arnell, 1998).to the RIP section. Also moved the south wall of 1717 Portage (Frank Megyesi, 2002) to the RIP section.

April 22, 2006. Added commentary by Mandy van Leeuwen and Michel St. Hilaire on their walls at 190 Houde, at 134 Marion and at 613 Portage.

April 13, 2006. Added commentary by Charlie & Sarah Johnston on the Clarence Tillenius wall at 1881 Portage. Added new 2005 wall ( 2 photos) at 466 Gertrude (Alfredo Aguilar & Andreas Aguilar) with commentary by George & Geri Jarvis of Block Parents. Moved 160 Osborne (Ian August, Owen Carpenter, 2000) and 664 Corydon (Jill Farnthorpe, 1994) to the RIP section.

February 24, 2006. Changed slideshow at the bottom of the entrance page to feature Winnipeg's 2005 Murals. Added commentary by Tom Andrich for his wall at 661 Ellice as well as some notes about the Mural's subject, Charles (Cartoon Charlie) Thorson. Added commentary by René Lanthier for his wall at 165 Provencher; commentary by Tiffany Seymour for her wall at 97 Sherbrook; and commentary by Jennifer Johnston for her walls at 1090 Wall and 407 William.

January 7, 2006. Added new 2005 walls at 541 Waterfront (1) (Roger Sheridan) and at 541 Waterfront (2) (Melissa Honke). Added notes for Winston Leathers for his 1972 landmark Mural at 364 Smith (the former Walker Theatre).

December 10, 2005. Added new 2005 walls at 485 Selkirk (Richard Manoakeesick); and 7 photos at 1881 Portage (Charlie Johnston). Also in the 'where are they now' department, we've been trying to keep track of 'bear migrations' with the Bears on Broadway. Most of them are hibernating over the winter, of course; but of the 13 that are NOT, check them out right here in their new homes. More updates on the Bears as we get them.

November 21, 2005. Added new 2005 wall (4 photos) at Diamond Wax, 407 William (Jennifer Johnson); and added 14 Bank (Tom Jones) to the Other Outdoor Art section.

November 18, 2005. Added new 2005 wall (6 photos) at the Transcona Legion, 117 Regent East (Charlie Johnston); with commentary by Paul Martin (Veteran and World's Greatest Transconian) and Charlie Johnston.

October 20, 2005. Our congratulations are extended to Winnipeg Muralist Tiffany Seymour, who is the winner of the Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award. Tiffany will receive her award tonight at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. Congratulations, Tiffany!

October 12, 2005. Added new 2005 walls at A Label for Artists (3 photos) 510 Portage (Pat Lazo, Mike Johnston et. al); and at Iron Fist Tae Kwon Do, 675 Archibald (2) (Stephanie Gauthier).

September 30, 2005. Added new 2005 walls at Neptune Fisheries, 472 Dufferin (2) (Reid Edgeworth); at Lancer Group International, 1090 Wall (Jennifer Johnson); 9 photos of the Cartoon Charlie Thorson Mural at Dalat Restaurant 661 Ellice (Tom Andrich); and 10 photos at the Norwood Legion, 134 Marion (Mandy van Leeuwen, Michel St. Hilaire).

September 21, 2005. Added Artist Profile for Regan Philpott and brief comments by Regan on his walls. Added new 2005 wall (6 photos) at Project Neecheewam, 591 Sherbrook (Erica Holloway); and at K & D Food (2 photos) 530 Selkirk (2) (Richard Manoakeesick).

August 18, 2005. Added terrific garage door art by Olga Strashok in two locations to the Other Outdoor Art section: 91 Yanofsky (2 photos) and at 649 Beecher. Added new 2005 wall (2 photos) at Broadway Pharmacy, 618 Broadway (Art City).

August 15, 2005. Added new 2005 walls at Manitoba Metis Foundation, 412 McGregor (Graffiti Gallery, Fred Thomas) and at Parc La Salle Elementary School, 190 Houde (Michel St. Hilaire, Mandy van Leeuwen). Added an overlooked 1998 wall at Dakota Family Foods, 1099 St. Mary's (Dakota Collegiate Students).

August 2, 2005. Added new 2005 wall at The Haberdashery (2 photos), 835 Corydon (Mike Johnston).

July 27, 2005. Moved 618 Broadway (Art City) to the RIP section. Added new 2005 walls at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (2 photos), 365 Hargrave (Graffiti Arts Programmimg, Richard Manoakeesick, Fred Thomas, Cody Starr, Deanna Renschler, Justin Schroeder, Bobbie Sinclair, Darryle Caribou); Riverton Church (2 photos), 257 Riverton (Elmwood Community Kids); and 5 photos at 165 Provencher (René Lanthier & Annia Mulaire).

July 11, 2005. Moved 1880 Alexander (Dennis Bell) to the RIP section. Added new 2005 walls at Riediger Foods, (3 photos) 188 Isabel and at PIB Janitoral, 562 St. Mary's, both by Frank Meygesi and Frank Veltri. Added other new 2005 walls at Naleway Foods, (3 photos) 1411 Main (Marymound School, Jeremy Henderson, Jason Ludwar); at Advance Plumbing, 1069 Selkirk(2) (Richard Manoakeesick, Fred Thomas, Patrick Ross, Justin Poirier, Julia Wake, Roger Dorian, Jason Beyer, Daniel Barthelette) ; and 2 photos of 'An Evening Skate' at Rising Star Dance Academy, 558 Keenleyside (Jill Sellers). Speaking of Jill, her piece entitled A Quiet Moment has won the 2005 Red River Exhibition Art Show's 's James Richardsons & Sons Best in Show award. Congratulations, Jill!

July 4, 2005. Website traffic from June has absolutely buried the site's previous records for traffic. In June, there were 5149 visits by 3561 unique visitors who used 12.91 Gig of Bandwith. That's an average of over 171 visits per day. Wow. There was also a new one day record- 569 visits on June 22, the day of our 2004 Mural of the Year Luncheon, with supporting press that day from both dailies, A Channel, and the community weeklies all on the same day. The artists and the client were delighted with the media response to the luncheon and the award. Added two beautifully painted Red Light Camera poles to the Other Outdoor Art section; at 202 Provencher (École Taché students); and at 327 Kenaston (Carpathia School students). Added commentary by Mandy van Leeuwen for her 2004 walls at 655 Archibald, 843 Valour, 130 Osborne and 239 Harrow. Updated Mural artists information on Murals at 444 Burnell.

June 21, 2005. Mural of the Year for 2004 announced; just in time for our celebratory luncheon Wednesday June 22. There were 30 independent mural judges this year and they all did a terrfic job. We'd like to thank and acknowledge them.

Judge Occupation/Affiliation Bill Blaikie NDP Member of Parliament; Bob Bruce Programmer, Geomatics Engineer, Province of Manitoba; Bob Buchanan The Murals of Winnipeg website; D. Joseph Creighton Systems Analyst, U of M.; Delsie Cousineau Retired Postal Clerk; Louise Buchanan The Murals of Winnipeg website; Myron Bielak Retired Railway Supervisor; Sharon Cory Visual Artist; Shirlee Blackman Proud Grandmother; Terry Smythe Player Piano and Roll Scanner Enthusiast; Trudy Turner Executive Director, West End BIZ; Wayne Warren Informatics Consultant; Diana Roth Commercial Sign Designer; freelance artist; Tim Rhind Winnipeg Police Officer; Bill Coe Retired; 40 years in Property/Casualty Insurance Industry; Nurit Drory Jack of all Trades; Don Fotti, Jr. Systems Support Technician, U of M; Alyson Wiebe Customer Service Assistant, Palliser Furniture; Bert Schaffer Past President, Manitoba Camera Club; Tom Ethans Executive Director, Take Pride Winnipeg!; Rick Dreger Digital Photographic Retoucher; Susan Tremblay Human Resources, Agriculture Canada; Chris Lillies Groceries Manager, Sobeys; Shirley Haynes a "Wiggle, Giggle and Munch Facilitator"; Laurie Thompson Executive Director, Manitoba Institute for Patient Safety; Jodi Gilmore Researcher, Manitoba Labour Board; Ken Gabel CKY Television Photojournalist; Jennifer Johnston Artist & Muralist; Alison Czarnecki Journalism Graduate; Reid Edgeworth Artist & Muralist

June 10, 2005. Today is the 2nd anniversary of the website. Woo-hooooo! It is by no coincidence that today we also launch the long awaited Murals Mapping Interface to the site. This has been a nine month project for myself and my dear friend, the incomparable Bob Bruce. Bob has already been the single person responsible for making the site work so well from the beginning. Last year about this time he approached me with his vision of a mapping interface for the site. I was lukewarm about the idea at first, but as we began looking at it closer we both got a lot more excited about it. At the beginning of October, we got the good news from the City that they were willing to supply us the use of their street centerline data. Getting this seed data was essential; and they also supplied us with certain river, pond, neighbourhood boundaries, and some of the parks. Yes, I worked hard on it too, especially in adding a lot of embellishment to the maps;(e.g. all of the polygons representing schools, parks, community centres, hospitals and many other points of interest); but that wouldn't have been possible without all the training I got from Bob. For the mapping interface itself, to get the type of dynamics we wanted to have going in these maps with the mural symbols acting as hotspots and relaying mural info from a completely different database than the mapping data required writing and adding custom code at a high level of the open source code- changes which will now be included in future releases of the product. This whole thing really was his vision; and I'm so very pleased with the result.

One of its undocumented and unadvertised features is that it includes all 61 of the Bears on Broadway locations. We only decided to add this a few days ago. Please note that the Bears do not become visible until you reach a scale of 1:2000 or CLOSER; due to the high density of bears, they would flood your mapping window otherwise.

Before using the mapping interface, I urge you to first read the help page (accessible via the ? icon). It will help you get the most out of this comprehensive and state-of-the-art interface. The help page also include sections for acknowledgements and a more complete backstory on our nine month journey to make this a reality. I would only add to this that every time we got a new button or feature to work right without breaking, our excitement increased exponentially. This last week it has been extremely exciting and difficult to wait for the launch date, so having the Bears Project to work on was good to keep our minds off it and hopefully make it even that much better! Enjoy! Your feedback is welcomed. Let us know what you think!

June 5, 2005. Finished makeover of the banner at the top of each page, replacing the tabs denoting each section of the website with new buttons; including a Home button which we didn't have before. We have now switched web hosting companies to one right here in Winnipeg who we like very much: John Lange at http://www.open-it.ca/. All of the above changes have been necessary in preparation for the launch of a major enhancement to the site, which you will be able to see here on Friday June 10th. You're going to love it, and we can hardly wait!

May 26, 2005. Added over 100 on-site photos of the 61 Bears on Broadway locations unveiled to the public today in the Other Outdoor Art section. Bears on Broadway is an incredible fundraising project for CancerCare Manitoba in which the business community, artistic community and the wider community at large have worked and imagined together in such an innovative manner. The bears will be on exhibit from now straight through October, and all but 2 are within a short 15-20 minute walk of one another along Broadway between Main and Osborne. There is also one at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (also within walking distance), the Polo Park shopping centre, and the Airport. Each bear weighs 4 tons and stands 7 feet tall. For lots more information on the Bears, go to http://www.bearsonbroadway.com/

May 23, 2005. Added 5 more in the series of park benches in Spence ( Cliff E. Dubois) for a total of 6, to the Other Outdoor art section: Balmoral & Sargent; Cumberland & Balmoral (1); Cumberland & Balmoral (2); Cumberland & Balmoral (3); and Sargent & Maryland. Added comments by James Culleton for his wall at 590 St. Mary's Road.

April 30th, 2005. Added comments by Dennis & Diane Bell for their wall at 471 McMillan. Moved 562b St. Mary's (Mike Poirier & Shaun Poulet, 2003) to the RIP section.

April 11, 2005. Moved 166 Meadowood Drive (Darren Macray, Matt Yathon, 2002) to the RIP section. Added comments by Annie Bergen for her wall at 1156 Main ; and commentary by Wayne Alsip on the Alsip's mural at 1 Cole (Jill Sellers). Added new 2005 traffic controller boxes at Portage & Vaughan and at Portage & Balmoral ; both by muralist Tom Andrich.

March 24, 2005. Added artist profile on René J. Lanthier. Added commentary by René J. Lanthier for his beautiful Murals at 470 Provencher and at 1075 Autumnwood. Added commentary by Edith Regier and Pat Aylesworth for the Crossing Communities Artwork Mural at 544 Selkirk.

February 14, 2005. Added a long overdue Arist Profile for Jill Sellers. I don't consider this yet to be a complete profile and hope to add to it in the next month or so. Recently I've been corresponding with Lionel Gripon who operates a Mural site for France with a special emphasis on trompe l'oeil work. I was astonished to hear from him that he was a fan of this site. I LOVE his site; so we have now decided to be SISTER or TWIN websites as he and I seem to share exactly the same aims; he for France, and I for Winnipeg. I urge you to please take a little time to visit his tremendous site, http://murals.trompe-l-oeil.info and to see some amazing European Murals. He has over 3500 photos, some video, and you can sent virtual email postcards with any Mural of your choosing.

January 22, 2005. Added new 2004 walls at Seed Winnipeg (2 photos), 607 Selkirk (Patrick Lazo, Graffiti Art Programming); and at Winnipeg Drywall & Stucco (2 photos), 501 Larsen (Joaoluis & Paulo Valentim). Added portfolio photos for the profile on artist Charlie Johnston. Added commentary by Charlie & Sarah Johnston for 190 Disraeli; and commentary by Charlie for 1330 Portage and 1775 Portage. Moved 510 Main (Tom Andrich, 2000), 185 Young (Chandler McLeod, 1996) and 57 Osborne (Fred Thomas, GAP, 2000) to the RIP section.

December 31, 2004. Changed slideshow on the entrance page to show off some of Winnipeg's 2004 crop of Murals. It might be necessary to clear your browser cache in order to see the newer version of the slideshow.

December 7, 2004. Moved 1792 Pembina (Larry Rich) to the RIP section.

November 29,2004. Added Artist Profile for Beverlee Bedford (Dove Design).

November 26, 2004. Added new 2004 walls at European Art Glass (2 photos), 655 Archibald (Mandy van Leeuwen); at Iron Fist Tae Kwon Do, 675 Archibald (Allstar Alliance); and at St. John's Music, 2 photos of the Water Music Mural, 1330 Portage Avenue (Charlie Johnston). Added Commentary by the artists for their wall at 176 Fort. Moved 510 Portage (unknown artist, 2003) to the RIP section. It is with great sadness that we move the Long Live Sports Mural, 145 Market (Charlie Johnston, 1999) to the RIP section.

November 6, 2004. My good friend Bob Bruce (php Programmer extraordinaire) and I have now just begun what we hope in four to six months will be a MAJOR enhancement to the site. It's a major undertaking for us (we've probably already put close to 100 hours into it) and we're pretty thrilled about it. Let's just say that if you like the website NOW, just wait 'till you see what's coming... For those who've inquired about the absence of a Mural on the site, please keep in mind that we generally don't post a new Mural to the site until it is COMPLETELY FINISHED and signed by the artist. However, by saying this, we do NOT want to deter any of you spotters out there reporting a new Mural site! Added new photos to reflect the addition of Zookhy's bike to the Zookhy Mural at 635 Sargent (Jill Sellers). Added new wall (4 photos) at Pyramid Cabaret, 176 Fort (Savage Arts: Lloyd Olafson & Michele Farber-Olafson). Added commentary or backstory to all locations by Beverlee Bedford.

October 9, 2004. Moved 130 Osborne (Mike Johnston, 2000) and 1775 Portage (Belle Fosh Signs, 1999) to the RIP section- in both cases they were replaced with new artwork at these locations: Stradbrook Chiropractic (4 photos) at 130 Osborne (Mandy van Leeuwen); and Canadian Super Shop at 1775 Portage (Charlie Johnston); Also added new 2004 walls at: Good News Fellowship Church (5 photos) with backstory at 891 St Mary's Rd (Toots Toews); Furdale Industries (3 photos) at 324 Lizzie (Dwayne Ball); Gilbert Park Housing at 10 Gilbert (2 photos and backstory) and at 45A Gilbert both by Chandler McLeod; Alliance for the Prevention of Chronic Disease (2 photos)at 194 Sherbrook (Chris Velasco); Salvation Army Thrift Store (4 photos) at 97 Sherbrook (Tiffany Seymour); Aurele's Hairstyling (5 photos) at 470 Provencher (René Lanthier); and at Emerson Elementary at 323 Emerson (Beverlee Bedford).

September 17, 2004. The production coordinator of CKY's Manitoba Moments has been in touch with me and has asked me to advise website visitors here that they will not be producing a second special episode this year about Murals in Winnipeg. Alas. Added new 2004 walls at 292 Rosedale (Les Mawakeesick); at Bar Italia at 737 Corydon (Lauren Ritz); and at Dugald Esso, 2850 Dugald (Louis Bako, Daniel Hrishkewich).

September 14, 2004. Added new 2004 walls at Savin' Dave's at 567 Broadway (Ryan Smoluk); Winter's Autobody at 1010 Arlington (Dennis Bell, Diane Bell); Gags Unlimited at 209 Osborne (Osborne Village Art Group, Regan Philpot, David Hosanna); Scooter City (3 photos) at 1156 Main (Annie Bergen); Tacium Vincent Orlikow Law Offices (3 photos) at 244 St. Anne's (Louis Bako, Daniel Hrishkewich); Valour Street Convenience Store (4 photos) at 843 Valour (Mandy van Leeuwen); and Cozy Carpets (3 photos) at 101 Salter (Sherri Maladrewich).

 September 3, 2004. Added new 2004 walls at John King School (9 photos) at 525 Agnes (Karina Cardona-Claros); and at Class A Service (7 photos) at 714 St. Mary's (Jill Sellers).

August 31, 2004. Added new 2004 walls at: Wide World of Faith Church (4 photos) at 465 Alexander (Kristin Miller); Kelly's Food Mart (3 photos) at 1489 Elgin (Brian McBay, Matt Tuba, Dan Szara, Brent Adams, Sanja Anwar); Abbi's Payfair (3 photos) at 467 Sargent (Richard Manoakeesick); The Elizabeth Fry Society at 544 Selkirk (Crossing Communities Art Project); 5 photos of the private residence at 731 Burrows (Richard Manoakeesick); and at 471 McMillan (Dennis Bell, Diane Bell). Moved the old Mural at this last location; 471 McMillan (Lloyd Branson, 1994) to the RIP section.

August 28, 2004. Added new 2004 walls at: Alsip's (8 photos) at 1 Cole (Jill Sellers); Kern-Hill Furniture tribute to Nick Hill Sr.(2 photos) at 843 Main (Mandy van Leeuwen; Michel Saint Hilaire); and Levy's Leather (14 photos) at 190 Disraeli (Charlie Johnston, Sarah Johnston).

August 24, 2004. Added wall at Soap Opera Laundry, 500 Sargent (Cyrus Smith, Sean Morin). Added new 2004 walls at Brewers Direct, 1400 Sargent (Frank Megyesi); Centennial Pet Boarding & Grooming (2 photos) 2747 Pembina (Tom Andrich); 2 new GAP Murals: 34 MacDonald (1) (Julia Wake); and 34 MacDonald (2) (Patrick Ross). Added 11 photos of the new 2004 wall at Winnipeg Harvest, 1085 Winnipeg (2) (Darlene "Toots" Toews) with commentary by Toots. Added park bench art at 500 Sargent (Cliff Dubois) to Other Outdoor Art section. Moved 1813 Portage (Arnell & Co., 1997) to the RIP section.

July 22, 2004. Added new 2004 wall (3 photos) at St. Ignatius School 239 Harrow (Mandy van Leeuwen, Michel St. Hilaire). Added older wall at Bella Vista Restaurant 53 Maryland . Added comments by Helenå Jaworski on all of her walls. Moved 159 Isabel (Pat Lazo, 2000) to the RIP section. Added new Spidey sighting in St. Vital at 98 Riel and playground art at École Herni Bergeron, 363 Enfield to the Other Outdoor Art section.

June 25, 2004. Mural of the Year for 2003 announced. Added new 2004 wall at 156 St Anne's (Frank Megyesi). Added new 2004 traffic controller box at Portage & Kennedy (Tom Andrich). Moved 105 Pembina to the RIP section. Added 3 great garage Murals all on the same street ( Balfour(1), Balfour (2) and Balfour (3) ) to the Other Outdoor Art section.

June 1, 2004. Mural of the Year 2003. During the entire month of May, a very distinguished Panel of 34 Independent Judges has been busily at work reviewing all of the amazing crop (62 in all) of new Murals and Outdoor Art produced in 2003 and then submitting their selections for the 2003 Mural of the Year! A good time was had by all, we think (or so their feedback suggests!). They were all earnest, impartial, and we would like to publicly thank them for their efforts. They came from all walks of life, but shared a love of Winnipeg's Murals and also were people who all care about our great city.
The MOTY 2003 panel were:

Judge

Occupation/Affiliation

Bill Blaikie

Federal NDP House Leader

Sam Katz

President and Owner, Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball Club

Tom Ethans

Executive Director, Take Pride Winnipeg!

Trudy Turner

Executive Director, West End BIZ

David Angus

President, Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce

Ed Huculak

Publisher, Winnipeg Sun

Carol Sanders

City Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press

Ken Gabel

CKY Television Photojournalist

Rev. Jeff Cook

General Council, United Church of Canada

Sally Solomon

Editor, Going Places CAA Manitoba Magazine

Bob Buchanan

The Murals of Winnipeg website

Bob Bruce

Programmer, Geomatics Engineer, Province of Manitoba

Shirlee Blackman

Proud Grandmother

Terry Smythe

Player Piano and Roll Scanner Enthusiast

Shirley Haynes

Child Care Worker, Mount Carmel Clinic

John Dyck

Service Technician, PBX Services

Sharon Cory

Visual Artist

Nurit Drory

Jack of all Trades

Alyson Wiebe

Customer Service Assistant, Palliser Furniture

Chris Lillies

Groceries Manager, Sobeys

D. Joseph Creighton

Systems Analyst, U of M.

Michele Olafson

Artist

Cheney Lansard

Artist

Wayne Warren

Informatics Consultant

Jodi Gilmore

Researcher, Manitoba Labour Board

Alison Czarnecki

Student Journalist

Myron Bielak

Retired Railway Supervisor

Leonard Sidloski

Investment Advisor, Wood Gundy

Bert Schaffer

Past President, Manitoba Camera Club

Diana Roth

Commercial Sign Designer, Pattison Group

Delsie Cousineau

Retired Postal Clerk

Rick Dreger

Digital Photographic Retoucher

Louise Buchanan

The Murals of Winnipeg website

Susan Tremblay

Human Resources, Agriculture Canada

We will be announcing the Panel's ultimate selection soon, and hope to generate some publicity for both the Artist(s) and the Client for this outstanding Mural. I will be away from Winnipeg until Saturday June 12th and will announce the Panel's ultimate selection for Mural of the Year 2003 as the date for the Award Lunch