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719 St. Matthews Avenue
Location Map
'School Patrols: Carrying the Vision'
Mural Mentor 2011 project for the West End BIZ. The Mural celebrates 75 years of the school patrol program which began at the old Greenway School further up St. Matthews Avenue and within a couple of years other provinces began adopting it.
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Location: NE corner St. Matthews & Beverley; East Face
Occupant: Pal's Supermarket
District: West End
Neighbourhood: St. Matthews
Artist(s): Brianna Mulhall (Brianče)
Year: 2011
Sponsors: Take Pride Winnipeg!, West End BIZ, Daniel McIntyre St. Matthews Community Association, Canadian Automobile Association Manitoba, HRSDC Summer Career Placement, Winnipeg Police Service, Manitoba Public Insurance
Painters: Mehr, Thiery, Ibsa, Kris, Daniel,Nicole, Kevin, Dinesh, Yoga, Theo, Rupa, Kriteka, Ed, Kayleigh, Birkha, Tek, Deo, Kaython, Caley, Jitesh, Dil, Des, Isis, Brittany, Janelle, Kyle, Nahwa, Carl, Tyler, Raven, Nobel, Erwin, Thablay, Lahmay, Josef, Jerico, Ivan, Allene, Valhallian, Minka, Christian, Ahmed, Nasra, Clifford, Puspa, Hamoiyo, Buddhi, MiKayla, Brandon, Brittney, Halena, Ester, Iesha, Annette, Aimee, Sonia, Leanna, Caroline, Daniel, April, Zoe, Amy, Braeden, Savannah, Kevin, Reade, Ashley, Roselle, Sayla, Kurtis, Mandeep, Yangwei, Charlene, Fran, Nicholas, Zach, Mihelle.
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Excerpts of remarks during and after the Mural Unveiling on September 13,
2011:
Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner (ED, West End BIZ): "2011 marks 75 years since West End
schoolteacher Louise Staples worried about children crossing the streets because of the
army trucks rumbling along. She started a local program that became a national
success."
Mike Mager (CEO, CAA Manitoba): "For 75 years now, school patrols have been there
for our community. Every day they put on their vests, they grab their flags and they help
our kids get to school safe, no matter what it's like outside- cold, hot, rainy. They do a
great job."
"The Safety Patrol Program is a great opportunity for young persons to be exposed to
road safety. It's also an opportunity for them to become leaders. I was a patroller at my
elementary school a long time ago, and it was a great experience for me that taught me
responsibility, dedication and leadership; and those are things I use every day in my job
today. I can't think of a better way to capture the valuable contributions made by
Manitoba Patrols than Art in the Heart of our City, only a few blocks away from where
the program all began in Greenway School. This Mural depicts everything that CAA
Manitoba has hoped the School Safety Patrol Program would become: something of
tradition, of honour and respect."
Brianna Mulhall: "I initially started with a lot of research into how the Patrol got started.
I tried to incorporate a personal intuitive feel to it with reflections of my own time in the
School Patrol myself here in Winnipeg and what it was like. I also had copies of surveys
that I had sent out to Greenway School. Patrol students gave their comments on things
like what they think of patrol, what it means to them, and so on. I took the kids' ideas
and tried to incorporate these things- as words that appear on the wall."
"I was also struck by two words as a result of my research: humble vision. That is the
best short description of Louise Staples' idea: that of a humble vision. Those are the
words on the wall just above her name. The program and the Mural started with that first
idea. It started in the West End and then morphs into what school patrols have become
and being carried on into the future."
"Some of the other design elements: there's the army tank at St. Matthews & Burnell-
that's how it began in 1936. There's the Sam Browne belt, the white leather strap that
was used before the vests were made. I also wanted to show what Patrollers go through-
the incredible changes in weather. The one tree at the top shows the transition between
fall and winter. There is also depicted a spring or summer day; there's rain. The
extended arm is intended to draw the viewer's eye in to the perception of the Patrol's
point of view. I also snuck the new Winnipeg Jets logo in there on the boy's packsack.
That car is actually my car! It was with me every day on the site, so I decided to paint it
in. The words on the road are actually the Patrol Pledge."
Gloria: "One memory that Brianna shared with us is that the students referred to her as
'teacher'. Although the Mural Mentor position is technically a teaching role, she was
very surprised to find herself referred to in that capacity because the students were really
teaching HER. That's something that we feel strongly about with our Mentors is that
they learn from the experience as well as teaching the students basic art skills and having
pride in their community."
"One boy was curious as to why the outstretched patrol arm was painted so colourfully,
and he was saying that it was a depiction of HER arm because her arm was always
covered in paint. Brianna was always covered in paint every day!"
Brianna: "There were 75 participants. The boards were installed first and then we painted
right here at the wall for 1 1/2 months. I did not project anything. I had a lot of people stop
by while I was working on it and just comment on how much it brightened their day and
how they looked forward to the daily changes they would see."
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