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1411 Main Street (1)
Location Map
Children of Marymound School painted this Mural to brighten up the community.
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Location: NE corner Main & Atlantic; South and East (Rear) Face
Occupant: Naleway Caterers Ltd.
District: North End
Neighbourhood: Luxton
Artist(s): Jeremy Henderson, Justin Ludwar
Year: 2005
Sponsors: Marymound School, North End Community Renewal Corporation, Pollock Hardware, Gord Mackintosh (MLA St. John's)
Painters: Sarah, Amy, Miranda, Kirsty and Gina. Technical Advisor: Mandy van Leeuwen. Coordinator: Mardy Yager.
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Students at Marymound School created this mural under the guidance of artist Mandy
van Leeuwen and Marymound School art teacher Justin Ludwar. Fourteen year old
student Jeremy Henderson (Photo 3) designed the mural which is steeped in aboriginal
imagery. As a bonus mural, Jeremy drew a larger-than-life eagle on the east rear wall
(Photo 2). " I drew the eagle for the Elders," says Jeremy.
Jeremy: "I wanted the mural to be really bright and happy so I picked a prairie so I could
have bison in it. We also have the four colours representing the four races and a
dreamcatcher with the hand prints of students in the webbing. We added the words
"thanks Jill" in the centre of the Dreamcatcher and that was because our principal, Jill
Mathez, was leaving at the end of the school year."
Justin Ludwar (Art Teacher, Marymound School): "'Thanks Jill' is an ode to our
principal who's leaving after 20 years. It's just a little gift from the kids, myself and the
other co-producer of this, Mardy Yager. It's basically just saying thanks to her as she's
been just an unbelievable principal to us. Even though I was new, she gave me free reign
to do a lot of creative things such as taking our kids out of the school and into the
community."
"We had (muralist) Mandy van Leeuwen helping us. She came out and volunteered some
of her time. I'm a painter myself but had no experience in mural work, so she was a big
help in orienting us to mural sized work, smoothing out the edges, and in using the large
expressive strokes and colours."
"Much of the student population of Marymound is aboriginal, so we wanted to show that
cultural aspect of it. There's a big Dreamcatcher in the centre and we tried to have it look
as if it was representing the sun. The feather going across the landscape, the buffalo and
the prairies, the bear claws, and the eagle head at the back wall are all there to represent
aboriginal cultures. There are also the four colours of red white yellow and black as
representing the four races."
"We added some handprints from the kids who helped. We had a few of the kids up on
the scaffolding for this- the ones who weren't afraid of heights, a few of the older kids.
We were very careful and were safety conscious the whole time. Due to heat concerns
the group would usually work just in the mornings until noon."
Marymound was invited to create this mural by Naleway Caterers and its neighbour
Pollock Hardware. Both companies supported the project financially and with materials.
The North End Community Renewal Corporation also granted the project funds.
Ludwar is thrilled with how the project turned out as well as with the effect it's had on
his students. "This mural has had a huge impact on the students who worked on it. They
have gained self-esteem from seeing a project through from start to finish. The reaction
from community members and local residents has been phenomenal with many people
stopping their cars while we were working to comment on the great job. The kids are
swelling with pride and deservedly so. They did an outstanding job."
Marymound is a non profit agency providing therapeutic and education services to young
people and their families. The young people receiving services at Marymound strive to
overcome challenges such as histories of abuse, family breakdown, addiction and
learning disabilities. Marymound serves more than 1,200 young people annually.
Additional source: Deborah Zanke, Manager of Development and Communications, Marymound School.
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