Mary Anne Barkhouse is a nationally acclaimed artist. She belongs to the Nimpkish band, Kwakiutl First Nation and currently lives in the Haliburton Highlands of Ontario.

Unveiled in 2007, Grace was commissioned by the RMG. It features three beavers cast in bronze, and have aged nicely and started to develop that classic verdi-gris colour. They are sitting on a piece of Canadian Shield granite from a quarry in the Haliburton Highlands, the top of which is highly polished. The piece overall was inspired by art history as well as natural history, hopefully making a good addition to the pantheon of artworks that reflect not only on Italian sculptor Antonio Canova’s The Three Graces, Beauty, Mirth and Good Cheer but also correlations to value and elegance found in the workings of our ecosystems and the natural world in general.

On land, the beaver is anything but graceful, but in the water its energy and efficiency, it’s a different story. Beavers are capable of reinventing their territory and the surrounding landscape through hard work. By placing Grace on a piece of the Canadian Shield, Barkhouse places them as valuable players in the ecosystem of the boreal forest and survivors of the European Fashion industry.

w: maryannebarkhouse.ca

https://www.gallery.ca/magazine/your-collection/sovereign-in-conversation-with-mary-anne-barkhouse

The RMG gallery is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm

Douglas Bentham lives and works in a rural setting near Saskatoon, SK. Bentham graduated with a BA Advanced degree in painting from the University of Saskatchewan in 1969. He received an MFA in sculpture from that institution in 1989.

You will have to enter the RMG and go to their garden.

w: douglasbentham.com

Bronze | 6.2m long x 1.98m wide x .85m high

Reinhard Reitzenstein was born in Uelzen, Germany and studied at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto, 1968-71.

This sculpture consists of a 24' bronze Ironwood tree lying on its side, its position due, perhaps to high winds, or the ravage of time. River Tree/Bench’s curved “spine” — the juncture from the roots has protrusions reminiscent of a backbone — and delicate root system, speaks to a sublime beauty in nature that can only be truly appreciated through a sympathetic understanding of what has been lost. River Tree/Bench was selected by the Jury Committee of the RMG and was commissioned.

Reinhard Reitzenstein is an environmental sculptor. He creates works through which he investigates ways to unite and interconnect nature, culture, science, and technology. He has been an instructor in sculpture and interdisciplinary studies since 1980 and is currently the Director of the Sculpture Program, SUNY, Buffalo, NY (USA).

His work is included in many corporate and public collections including The National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canada Council Art Bank, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Algoma Art Gallery, the University of Toronto, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Confederation Centre for the Arts, the Province of Ontario and The University of Western Ontario. Reitzenstein has taught sculpture and interdisciplinary studies at the University of Guelph since 1980 and at Brock University 1991-94. He has lived in Grimbsy, Ontario since 1981.

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, purchase, 2002

w: reinhardreitzenstein.com

Metal | 8.1m x 3.3m

“For The Robert McLaughlin Gallery I propose a work that reflects the Gallery’s curatorial mandate to transmit forward to future generations the work and ideas of its collection, specifically the work of Painters Eleven. (Painters Eleven date from 1953 when a group of young artists — Jack Bush, Oscar Cahén, Hortense Gordon, Thomas Hodgson, Alexandra Luke, J.W.G. ("Jock") Macdonald, Ray Mead, Kazuo Nakamura, William Ronald, Harold Town and Walter Yarwood — banded together to exhibit abstract art in Toronto.) To do this I’ve taken the seminal portrait of the group, Peter Croydon’s 1957 group portrait, and have used it as a framework on which to place abstract forms that represent each member. These forms and their colours are derived from a key piece of each of the eleven members’ works in the Gallery’s collection. The forms are circular containing concentric rings which are then placed above a painted white metal framework so that in symphony, all eleven forms become transmitters.”

Staff first met with Doug Coupland in the summer of 2010 to gague his interest in working with the RMG to produce a third public art commission. In 2002, the Gallery commissioned Reinhard Reitzenstein to create River Bench, and in 2007, Mary Anne Barkhouse was commissioned to produce Grace, our much loved beavers at the front of the building. Fortunately for us, Doug was not only interested, but let us know of his friendship with Arthur Erickson, the building’s renowned architect, as well as his interest in mid-century modernist painting. In the months that followed, we supplied Doug with background information on the building and its first mandate that included collecting and exhibiting work by Ontario’s first abstract painting group, Painters Eleven (1953–1960), and sent him images of work by each of the group from our collection.

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, purchased with the financial support of the Isabel McLaughlin Acquisition Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program, 2011.

Douglas Coupland is an internationally renowned, Vancouver-based Canadian artist. He first rose to prominence in the 1990s after publishing the generation-defining fiction book Generation X.
Douglas Coupland will soon add bridge lighting artist to his lengthy list of accomplishments. Following an artist selection process during summer 2024, Mr. Coupland was announced as the successful candidate to create a dynamic and striking lighting concept that will grace the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

w: coupland.com

Although initially linked with the Minimalists, Clement Meadmore transcended geometry with work of uncommon force and elegance, powerful in large scale and small. It relies for its effect on the opposition between line and mass, also deriving power and eloquence from its fusion of formal invention with intense feeling, a frankly spiritual dimension. Yet ultimately the appeal of Clement Meadmore’s work lies in its success as sheer form.

The artist has managed to overcome geometry’s qualities of stasis, containment, rigor, and sobriety. His sculptures deny their physical reality, suggesting weightlessness. Because of this extroverted and animated character, his public commissions provide oases of humanity in the urban environment. He himself has stated: “A building is part of the environment, but a sculpture is a presence inhabiting the environment.”

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, gift of Edward and Marla Schwarz, 2015.

w: meadmore.com

In 2017 the City of Oshawa and Teaching City partner, Durham College, asked the Oshawa community to describe what humban rights meant to them. The result is this collaborative piece, designed by 16 Fine Art students from Durham College's School of Media, Art and Design (M.A.D.)'s 2017/2018 Community Collaborations course. The students drew inspiration from feedback received from the community and strove to artistically portray concepts, view experiences and hopes for human rights.

The 16 Fine Art students are:
Leana Anderson, Christopher Cote, Kimberley Cuomo, Shania Dias, Devan Johnson, Amy Johnston, Tanice Lafranboise, Tara Larkin, Nocile Marhong, Quinn Mcinall, Toni Mcmullen, Sonja Muskiluke, Andra Rusu, Kyle Sameul, Courtney Skovira and Viktoria Williams.

Commissioned in 1999.

The mural was created by students from O'Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and Monsignor Paul Dwyer. This mural depicts life at the four corners, 1840 to 1850. Skae's Corners became the Village of Oshawa in 1842. The first post office in Oshawa was located in the General Store owned by Skae and McDonald (the checkerboard building in the mural). The mural image looks outward from the porch at Munroe's Tavern where, in 1850, the Village of Oshawa Council held its first meeting. The other two buildings depicted are JD Hoitt's Carriage Shop and JB Warren's General Store.Description text goes here

The mural was created by JR Hunter, Matt Whelan, Melissa Verge, and Nicol Janecko who were local students of O'Neill Collegiate and Vocational Institute, and Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School. Advisors Craig Wildman and Steven Longauer.

14 Simcoe St. S. (Carriageway), Oshawa

Commissioned in 1998.

This mural depicts the first stagecoach line that operated on Kingston Rd. (Highway 2) between Fort Frontenac (Kingston) and Fork York (Toronto), 1817 to 1855. The last stop before Fort York was at Oshawa House on the northeast corner of King and Centre St.

My son Peter and I painted this historical mural 30 years ago this coming summer. Peter and I were on a cross-Canada driving trip, and it was one of several murals we painted that summer. He had been painting with me for about five years at that point and had 14 historical murals to his credit while I had done about 125 across Canada and the USA. We were in the process of transitioning away from mural painting, and it would prove to be one of our last.

Since then, we have been designing and building theme parks, which we continue doing to this day. We moved from Chemainus to Chilliwack, BC, in 2000 and continue to work as a small family company called Imagination Corporation. Peter now owns the company, and I am delighted to still work with him and the rest of our family daily.

Our projects stretch around the world, including NEB’s Fun World in Oshawa, Ontario. Last summer, on a visit to our ongoing projects, I was pleased to see the mural still there.

We asked Dan about his involvement in the famous Chemainus murals, here is his reply:

I did indeed do many of the murals in Chemainus, starting in their second year of Mural Festivals. (https://muraltown.com #10, 27, 28, 39 & 40). I, along with my family, moved there the next year, in 1984. We lived there for almost 18 years and played a key role in the redevelopment of the downtown core, creating more than a hundred-dimensional signs and 18 large commercial building projects.

Peter and I really enjoyed our cross-country mural adventures in those years. Our travels took us all across Canada and the USA from up in northern Alberta to Florida and all points in between. Most often, we travelled as a family with my daughter Rebecca and wife Janis accompanying us, but there were a couple of years that we did it on our own. When Peter and I travelled together, we made it a point to stop in every town that had a go-kart track to race. To this day, it is still cheerfully and hotly disputed who is the actual champion.

The mural had many names and other objects hidden in the line work, as did all of our murals. I’ll reveal only one that you can’t be unseen once it is discovered. Janis was a big Star Trek fan back then, so just for her, I painted a huge starship in the front display window. There are many more things, of course, some pretty obvious, some not, but the fun is in the discovery, so I’ll leave it at that.

Commissioned in 1995. The mural was created by father and son team Dan and Peter Sawatzky. This mural depicts Oshawa's Four Corners on Kingston Rd. (now King St. and Simcoe St.) as it would have appeared in 1935. It exhibits the manually operated traffic sign, used and operated by Officer Ed Stauffer as he directed traffic during busy times. Down in the heart of Oshawa on the main street were train tracks for the Oshawa Carriage Works, which remained until 1962.

w: imaginationcorporation.com

Oshawa Museum, 1450 Simcoe St S, Oshawa https://oshawamuseum.org/ Features a picture of a dairy wagon, and Oshawa Museum will have a talk about Oshawa’s dairies in May 2025.
Oshawa 1935 is largely based on a historical image, which we have in our archival collection.

Commissioned in 1997
Mural | 4.57m x 10.67m (15 ft X 35 ft)

Paul Ygartua, a Vancouver, BC artist reports this mural was done in 11 days, free hand, no scale and no projector.

The Oshawa Generals Major Junior Hockey franchise was established for the 1937-38 season and immediately became a hockey powerhouse by winning seven consecutive Ontario championships through to 1944. The team has won five additional Ontario titles since then and has been the Memorial Cup champion four times, in 1939, 1940, 1944, and 1990.

Featured are well-known Oshawa Generals stars of the past. The three centre players are Eric Lindros, Bobby Orr and Billy Taylor. The player on the far left is John MacLean #15. Between Orr and Taylor is Rick Middleton #16. Ian Young is in black the sweater and #27 is Marc Savard. Next to Savard is #8 Iain Fraser and Terry O'Reilly is in white on the far right.

w: ygartua.com | w: wall90.com/murals/

Thanks to Oshawa Museum for sharing the BIA photo taken during the painting.

This illustration depicts the transformation of our relationship with nature and its elements. The creek provided the water that powered the mill, and this same water sustains the surrounding plant life, wildlife, and people.

Some of the color palette is sampled from photographs I took of the sky at sunrise, midday, and sunset, facing West on King Street. I used these colors in the background, framing, and integrated throughout the mural. The weaving effect is intentional, using repetition of colours and shapes throughout.

For example, the star elements begin lower down in the composition where they are visible in the water, pooled inside the mill wheel buckets as they are carried up toward the sky. The constellations which can be seen facing the direction of the work can be found in the upper portion of the mural as well as in the east-facing Mill windows.

Growing up in Oshawa and currently living near the downtown core, I have spent considerable time walking along the creek path with my son, immersing ourselves in our local landscape. This mural provided an opportunity for me to delve deeper into the history of this part of my community. I took many reference photos to ensure that viewers could observe elements from the mural along the creek path. Additionally, some sculptural animal figures from the nearby Botanical Gardens’ play structure have been incorporated into the design.

My hope is that my community will enjoy this artwork in various ways. To encourage the exploration of history associated with the John Borlase Mill. As a playful teaching tool used to seek and find various visual elements in the mural along the creek path. To be enjoyed from different angles and vantage points around the installation area. There are many details in this artwork which cannot be easily seen from one location. Don't hesitate to zoom in using your phone camera or binoculars. To capture a special moment with this mural as your backdrop. I am grateful for this opportunity to share my artwork with my community.

Photography by Mary Cook and Dani Crosby
w: danicrosby.com

Oshawa Museum, 1450 Simcoe St S, Oshawa https://oshawamuseum.org/Turning the Wheel is tied to an early industry and we will have Dani Crosby joining us for our Local History Speaker Series in September.

The Mural for the Victorian Order of Nurses that I painted around the corner on the Go Transit building the next year … doesn’t conjure up as many memories because I was separated from the sidewalk and local folks by the height of my 5 (or 6) story scaffold. It was a 6.4m x 6.4m framed painting that I executed with plenty of nervous tension and fear of heights.

The only thing that sticks in my mind on this project is the disembodied voice from down low behind me telling me that I was a technician. ‘Oh’ I replied …' and I like to think that I am an artist as well’. ‘No. You’ll never be an artist' came the faceless reply … (I never even turned around to look at the man … everyone is a critic and I was missing my family back home on that Labour Day in a nearly deserted downtown Oshawa. This mural ended on a sad note as Lady Diana died on my last day of painting leaving everyone in a gloomy funk … I paid a young passerby 25 dollars (in 1997 money) for dismantling my scaffold because I didn’t feel any more luck in me to deal with climbing it again. It took him about seven to 10 minutes to have all of the parts for me at street level. After their pickup by the scaffold rental folks and my picking up my final payment, I left Oshawa - never to return as it turned out. That weekend I attended a golf party in Callibogie, Ontario which was inundated by TV coverage of the Diana’s funeral.
w: artbyrobinburgesse.ca

The Victorian Order of Nurses Mural depicts the 100-year history of the VON and it was commissioned by the VON Durham branch. The VON was founded by Lady Isabel Aberdeen, the wife of the Governor General, on the request of the National Council of Women as Canada's "memorial" for Queen Victoria's 1897 Diamond Jubilee.

Robin was born in Arvida, Quebec, but spends much of his life in the Pembroke area.

Thanks to Oshawa Museum for sharing the BIA photo taken during the painting.

Three Generations of GM Owners was the inspiration for a portion of the mural and it came from an actual letter and an enclosed photograph. It shows a grandmother, a mother and a granddaughter, standing proudly in front of their new "Sunfires”. They wrote GM expressing how pleased they were with their new cars. In the final panel painted are two examples of the cars produced in Oshawa: the Buick Century and the GMC Pick-up.

The Loon represents the Environment and preserving wet lands. It is seen at either the GM Canada Headquarters, at the McLaughlin Bay, or the Second Marsh project.

The Crash Test Dummies found at the GM South Plant are painted onto the fifth panel. The reference was taken from an in-house publication. While today everyone is familiar with them, when John was painting, he received questions as to what they were. "Star Trek" characters was the most popular assumption. This was his favourite panel of this group.

Through the instillation of Technology, designs change as shown on the fourth panel.

The Diversity of the workforce is illustrated on the third panel with the use of gender, race and age.

GM’s car symbols: Buick, Saturn, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac.

Members of the McLaughlin Family, founders of the McLaughlin Carriage Company and McLaughlin Motor Car Company, the forerunner of General Motors of Canada.

Oshawa Museum, 1450 Simcoe St S, Oshawa, April, 2025 Speaker Series: talk about the 1937 GM Strike. https://oshawamuseum.org/

Thanks to Oshawa Museum for sharing the BIA photo taken during the painting of the McLaughlin Family Portrait.

Commissioned in 1996
Mural | 9.1m x 17.07m

From Robin Burgesse:
My son Chris and I arrived in Oshawa on the corner where the GoTransit terminal sits - about two weeks late in mid-August for my planned arrival. The monster mural that I’d just completed in Pembroke, Ontario had me working up to 18 hours a day (near the end of the task) because of the extra work and care required to paint sharp images on an old red brick wall with 1/2’’ deep cement channels throughout the 9.1 x 17.07 m (30ft x 56ft) area that I was painting by brush. Your pristine and oh-so-smooth manufactured canvas on the east wall of the transit building looked pleasant to me after my last project. This surface was beautiful to work on - congrats to the The Downtown Action Committee for their choices.

After introducing ourselves and our reason for haunting your streets and sidewalks to your police department we set to building our scaffold and marking up the mural wall with chalk then tracing over our lines with tan latex paint to ensure that rain would not wash our markings away. Our actions on your wall drew the attention of some dangerous-looking guy who watched us work while flicking this rather large chain with what looked like 1/2” links over and under his arm while leaning against the building on the north side of the street … flick, flick, flick for a few hours (it seemed) until he got bored and disappeared. He returned the next few days with the same chain schtick as he leaned on his wall but by that time we, Chris and I, had formulated a plan to defend ourselves if needed … and besides, we had plenty to occupy ourselves with on the wall before us. Our chain guy was only the first Oshawa local that we encountered … more followed - some questionably sane and others who felt that it was their duty to convert us then and there. We didn’t need conversion but needed time to do our work … so we balanced our responses trying to shoo them away without offending them …. It never entirely worked and I met lots of interesting folks (some of them slightly psychopathic) over my time painting the mural.

I returned to Oshawa the next week alone, determined to get some work done … a pattern that I repeated for the next eight or so weeks … filling in the murals City plaque and the word Oshawa at the top of the image. Then came my preplanned images of Oshawa’s founding industries painted to look like they were carved into the stone of the painted stone wall. This is when I really got to like the beautiful surface that I was provided - the painting was easy and my line work satisfyingly straight and true … I began to enjoy myself and began to endear myself to local passers-by - letting them in on what I planned to do further on this nearly half-painted wall.

My timeline might be a bit off at this point of my tale … but I remember being anxious to get back to my project to fill the crowd of real people below the three industries panels. I had my Polaroid camera and I started asking folks if I could paint them into my mural … the Go Transit bus drivers, the lady who watched an adjacent parking lot and the short order owner and cook who owned the Black Diamond diner across the street. I included myself (in the Beanie Hat below the coloured part of the mural, my son Chris wiping his hands and not working on theconveyor beltin front of him … the city counsellor Dina Dykstra (you can see Dina in stone beneath Lyn’s coloured hand) but she and her family billeted me for the duration of my work … and the leader of the mural committee at the time (Again, I forget her name) who is painted with her unusual looking glasses. It was after painting her glasses that I realized that if I was to represent all races in my image I had to find an Asian who wasn’t wearing glasses so that my audience could see their eyes and not more stone lenses. A fellow showed up (a tourist from the Philippines) who was delighted to lend me his image … I told him to come visit in two days to see himself in the painting. He showed up with his family who were thrilled at the prospect of having the husband’s image left on a Canadian wall after they returned home. I painted several bus drivers - most noticeably the surly man with the sledgehammer on his shoulder … whose mother came to the wall to chastise me for painting her son in such an unflattering way … ‘that’s the joke in this painting madame anyone who can recognize him will get it because he is really such a jolly guy’ I told her … and I was telling her the truth because he was a very pleasant and congenial fellow. This was my favourite time of this project … then the real work of completing the image began with the worsening fall weather approaching.

I took measures to keep myself warm when painting by wrapping my entire 3 story scaffold with blue vinyl tarps and keeping a little electric furnace heater on my bench as I sat there painting. A terrible idea as it turned out because I blew one of the two breakers on the GoTransit electrical panel - plunging the whole building into darkness because the impedance on a 30.48 m (100’) power chord was too much for the electrical panel causing the panel to shut down. Fortunately for me and the entire eastern end of the GoTransit system, I didn’t blow the other half of the electrical panel which handled all computer systems and maps for the service.

I decided to use a propane blower set low on my scaffold and aimed up at my ever more chilled body for the rest of the paint … leaving lots of ventilation at the bottom of my scaffold tent.

This was when I began being visited by a guy who said he owned a local gym near where I was painting …. He was a very strange man who I dubbed the ‘Zen Nazi’ because of his angry approach to finding peace and contentment in this shitty world. He used to sneak up the scaffold behind me (ever more stealthily) Rutger Howard like (in the first ‘Blade Runner’ movie)… poking his head right beside mine and announcing himself in a loud voice in my unsuspecting ear and making me jump in surprise and fright … in which he found great delight. (He even looked a lot like that actor). He argued with me that I wasn’t painting my wife, Lyn Ewing’s, face correctly. She was my model for the female worker in the blue coveralls. He pulled all kinds of stunts to keep me off balance until he got bored with his game and I continued to paint with ever colder fingers.

The last of the mural was when I painted the city worker (in the blue hard hat) who drove a street cleaning vacuum buggy with the trowel in his hand (the trade that he aspired to fill in for the city of Oshawa). He showed up the next year (when I was painting the VON mural around the corner) to thank me for changing his sex life for the better because he was someone recognizable and had become a local celebrity of sorts. He brought me lots of coffees when I was painting that 2nd mural in 1997… a good deal for both of us.

I can’t recall if I finished in late October or early November … but was very happy with what I had achieved and the friends I had made.
w: artbyrobinburgesse.ca

This mural portrays Oshawa's development with the slogan "Building on a Strong Foundation". Listed at the top are early companies from Oshawa's past. The panels below depict scenes from three influential companies - Warren Mills, Williams Piano Factory, and the McLaughlin Carriage Company. Many local faces are also featured.

Thanks to Oshawa Museum for sharing the BIA photos taken during the painting.

Commissioned in 1995.

Full Steam Ahead is a collage celebrating the history of Oshawa and the Oshawa Carriage Works. Located at the back of the mural is Parkwood Estate and how it stands today. Also painted in the mural is one of Oshawa Carriage Works cars, a 1924 McLaughlin Buick. On the extreme right is an original depiction of the Queen's Hotel. Established in 1874 it boasted state-of-the-art technology with en-suite bathrooms, running water, and electricity. Painted in the centre is the Oshawa Carriage Works with their employees out front. Back behind the Oshawa Carriage Works is Oshawa's Newspaper at the time. The Oshawa Daily Reformer later became the Oshawa Times. On the far left of the mural is a depiction of the Oshawa Harbour and Barnhart's Pavilion, the local dance hall, where people went to socialize and dance.

Commissioned in 1996
Mural | 2.74m x 33.5m (9ft x 110ft)

From Rudolf Stussi
It is a bit of an odd story. Originally, after acceptance by the selection committee, the plan was for my various historical images to go on the bus station, each on a separate exterior panel between the bays. But General Motors was not so keen on my interpretation, and wanted something else there. The committee, however, felt strongly enough about my work that they found another site and authorized that. I adjusted my design accordingly, since it was now meant to extend along one wall without breaks. I let each image flow into the next and worked out the details carefully to scale.

Because of the delay caused by the change of plan, I wound up with only two weeks in which to complete the mural, because my wife then, Jacquie Jacobs (still a working artist), and I plus our two children were scheduled to leave for a year in Europe. I hired another artist to help us out, and for two weeks we worked very hard applying the grid, the carbon sketch, and then the acrylic colours. including weekends. We managed to get it done just in time!

I have done quite a number of murals in the meantime, in Europe, too, but it is still one of my favourites. I now reside in Switzerland and Berlin and have remarried but visit Canada once in awhile. My two older sons Errol and Max (with whom I did 2 murals in Sussex, New Brunswick and 1 in Toronto's Beach 10 years later) as well as Jacquie still live in Toronto.

w: rudolfstussi.com

Photography by Rudolf Stussi ~ Artist and Mary Cook.

The mural was created by Rudolf Stussi. The evolution of Oshawa's automobile industry is depicted in this mural. In 1899, the McLaughlin Carriage Factory was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt within a year. The McLaughlin Motor Car Company, founded in 1907, began producing automobiles and, in 1918, became General Motors of Canada. The mural illustrates the role of General Motors during the Second World War in the manufacture of combat vehicles. The far right of the mural depicts the later technological advancements in automobile production.

Thanks to Oshawa Museum for sharing the BIA photo taken during the painting.

Originally commissioned to cover up a graffiti tag. The client and I came up with a design that not only restored the space from previous vandalism but also elevated the surrounding local landscape…during the mural process I couldn’t help but notice all that passed by and had to take a moment to “STOP AND SMELL THE FLOWERS”

The mural was commissioned by Art & Technique Academy of hairstyling & esthetics.

Photography by @aceovkeyz ~ Artist and Mary Cook.

Commissioned in 1997

From Brian Romagnoli

"Borsberry Music Hall" was a real vaudeville-era music hall located on the north side of King Street, just east of Simcoe Street. The BIA chose the site at Athol and Celina Streets, given its proximity to the original site. I always thought that the viewing vantage point was excellent because there is a beautifully landscaped parking lot right across the street.

The "Borsberry Music Hall" mural was the result of a nationwide competition in 1995. It depicts the interior and exterior of the music hall as it would have appeared during the Edwardian period. The triptych design in trompe-l'oeil style features an outdoor streetscape, an Oshawa-built 1912 McLaughlin Buick, an interior still-life display of musical instruments, and an arched entranceway that incorporates an existing door to upper-level apartments. Coming from a musical family, I incorporated a flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and drumsticks from my collection, and the French Horn was added to create an intricate focus at its center. The musical manuscript, top hat and gloves in the lower left refers to the famous Marks Brothers repertoire company who played the music hall and toured throughout North America. The group's youngest member. Ernie Marks lived in Oshawa, became its Mayor and established another theatre nearby. Depictions of a conductor and theatre patrons indicate the fashion of the period, but represent no one in particular.

The sheet music is titled "I Love You Truly", a romantic song from the period which my late mother used to sing solo at weddings. The other is a theatre playbill featuring the Marks Bros. Dramatic Co. (The Canadian Kings of Repertoire).

w: vintagearts.ca

Photography by Mary Cook, Metroland, Oshawa Museum & Brian Romagnoli

The mural was created by Brian Romagnoli and it depicts Borsberry Music Hall, a 700 seat theatre that was located on the north side of King St., just east of Simcoe St., in the early 20th century. It played host to a number of dramatic and musical productions. The inside of the Borsberry Music Hall is portrayed as a montage on the mural. Pictured outside the Music Hall is a McLaughlin Buick from 1924. The artist decided to give the mural a little life and incorporated the doorway to the apartments into the mural painting it blue and yellow.

Thanks to Oshawa Museum for sharing the BIA photo taken during the painting (last in the group).

The idea behind Reverb was connected to our community. Noel had asked me (Linda Jansma) to arrange for two tickets to an Oshawa Generals’ hockey game—he’d never been to a hockey game and, since the work was to be positioned outside the GM Centre, he wanted to get a feel for the place. It wasn’t the game that captured his imagination as much as the crowd. Reverb reflects the enthusiasm of those who visit the GM Centre—they are the ones who trigger the light show in the sculpture. The work is less about an artist’s vision, but the reflection of a community. And that consideration of our public is what helped influence the jurors’ decision to favour Noel’s design

The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, purchased with the financial support of the Isabel McLaughlin Acquisition Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program, 2015

http://rmg.on.ca/noel-harding-remembered-by-linda-jansma/

Tony had to visit museums and search through the Thomas Bouckley collection of photos for his material.

For each one he had to do a line drawing to scale, and we would have to project it on the wall section by section. Tony had to rent scaffolding and one time a fork lift to paint these murals. Once he had the image projected on the wall, it would take two to three weeks to paint it.

Orginally titled – “Lakeshore Park at the Turn of the Century” – July 1997.

The first mural Tony had ever painted. The old building was used to hold dances and the round about swing was a popular attraction. The first layer was house paint and then the rest of it all Acrylic.
w: bluewillowstudio.ca

In July 1997, Tony won a national competition promoted by the City of Oshawa to paint one of the “Downtown Murals”, depicting Lakeside Park at the turn of the century. The mural is 22' x 22'. The Lake Ontario Waterfront is pictured in this mural. It was a favourite gathering place for the Oshawa middle class. Streetcars running north and south along Simcoe St. were a popular means of getting to the waterfront. Barnhart's Pavilion (pictured in the background) was famous throughout Oshawa and beyond for its Friday night dances.

The Str. Argyle (or S.S.Argyle), a passenger steamship, can be seen in the background. It operated between Toronto and Cobourg (or The Thousand Islands depending on the information source) with stops in Whitby, Oshawa and Bowmanville. The mural “On the Lake (The Argyle),” created in 1995 by Welland artist Ross Beard has been removed. The Ontario Reformer published on page 1 on July 18, 1902, “On Wednesday the Argyle brought some seven hundred from Toronto to picnic at the Park. Some of our young ladies seem to look forward with great delight to the days the boat brings picnics and remains all day. It is nice they can find some attraction on the boat since our resort affords them none.” No reference on how many trips were made to bring 700 passengers.)

Also pictured is "The Ocean Wave", a merry-go-round and prominent fixture at the lake. To see a photo of it, please go to https://lakeviewparkoshawa.wordpress.com/
Oshawa Museum 1450 Simcoe St S, Oshawa https://oshawamuseum.org/ Oshawa 1935 is based on a historical image, which we have in our archival collection.

In 1999 Tony completed this 10' x 35' collage of important people and places in Oshawa’s history.Oshawa was incorporated in 1924.

The mural was created by Tony Johnson. Incorporated as a City in 1924, Oshawa celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1999. This mural is a collage of important people and places in Oshawa's history including: Donald Jackson, world famous figure skater; Lloyd Chadburn, a hero of the Second World War; Honourable Colonel Michael Starr, former Oshawa Mayor and Federal Labour minister; Robert Attersley, former Oshawa Generals hockey player; and Colonel R. S. and George McLaughlin, co-founders of General Motors of Canada, who, along with their wives, Adelaide and Annie, were patrons of Camp Samac, Memorial Park, Girl Guides, Boy Scouts, and the Canadian Automotive Museum.

From Tony & Anne Johnson:

The City held contests for all these murals. Each artist who entered the contest had to submit a maquet of exactly what they would paint on the wall provided. Tony won each of these 3 contests.

Tony had to visit museums and search through the Thomas Bouckley collection of photos for his material.

For each one he had to do a line drawing to scale, and we would have to project it on the wall section by section. Tony had to rent scaffolding and one time a fork lift to paint these murals. Once he had the image projected on the wall, it would take two to three weeks to paint it.

Tony’s second mural – about all the important people during Oshawa’s 75 years. Acrylic

At the opening ceremonies for this mural, with the Mayor and city officials attending, there was a fly over of a B52 Bomber. Lloyd Chadborne is depicted in this mural with his plane. He was a WWII ace fighter pilot and a hero from Oshawa. There is a street named after him in Oshawa.
w: bluewillowstudio.ca

This was part of a program that Rebekah McCleave and Chad Tyson created called “Signs of Life”. It was sponsored by Green Jobs Oshawa and the Canadian Postal Union.w: thepaintfactory.ca

Commissioned in 1996.

It took John about two months to complete this four-panel acrylic work. He thanks the committee for their preparation of the surface. As he worked during the summer (June and July) he found he needed to block the sun to see the colours correctly. John had erected a scaffolding with fabric to filter the sun and it was left in place when he was not working. One particular windy night the scaffolding was blown over. Fortunately, no one was hurt and there was no damage. During the 80s and 90s, Murals were a national project. They followed a 1980s initiative from Chemainus, BC. It still celebrates The Festival of Murals, and they now boast that they have 50+ murals.

During the painting of the murals, local residents loved to stop by and chat. Two of the most popular comments were "Do you get paid for this?" and teasing "Oh, you missed a spot!" Some artists installed a chalk board with the most asked questions and answers.

The 1886 green uniforms of the Light Infantry of Queen's Own Rifles represent the Fenian Raids.

The 1885 portion of this panel depicts the Red Coats from the 1885 North-West (Louis Riel} Rebellion. The medal and the cap elements of regalia are shown.

The 1917 panel represents fighting in the trenches during WWI. The Maple Leaf cap badge was proudly worn by the Ontario County Division and Conn Smythe, founder of the Toronto Maple Leafs, chose that badge to be the emblem of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.

In the 1943 panel, a M4A4 Sherman tank from the Italian campaign is represented. The cap badge of the Ontario Regiment (RCAC) during World War II featured a cat, the motto "Fidelis et Paratus", and a wreath of maple leaves, is at the top. The 1939-45 Star, The Star of Italy and The France and Germany Star, and service medals line up along the bottom

The 1994-6 panel represents UN involvement in Bosnia. The six-wheeled 10,500 kg armoured car, the Cougar, was used for surveying the area. The Cougar's 76mm cannon was more powerful than that carried by most Sherman tanks in the Second World War. Canadian peacekeepers drove these vehicles. The cap regalia is at the top and the medal at the bottom were sanctioned by the UN and approved by Canada.

One of the thrills was an actual “Armoured Vehicle: General Purpose” AVGP Cougar that was driven to the site and parked by the mural while John was painting. All the AVGP vehicles were built at General Motors Diesel Division's factory in London, Ontario. The Canadian Tank Museum, North America's Largest Collection of Operational Historical Military Vehicles, 1000 Stevenson Rd N, Oshawa, have two Cougars - one operational and one as a monument. Another Cougar is installed as a monument at the Ontario Regiment's Oshawa Airport Armoury building at 1220 Keith Ross Drive on the Oshawa Airport North Field.

This mural commemorates the 130-year history of Oshawa's own Ontario Regiment and its involvement in the nation's conflicts and UN peacekeeping missions. All of the medals at the bottom of the mural are accurate representations of Canadian Military decorations. The regalia at the top represents the cap badge and is the most easily identifiable form of insignia.
The 80th anniversary of the conflict's end is in 2025.

Commissioned in 1996.

Windfields Farm was the home of champion racehorse Northern Dancer. Both the 1964 Kentucky Derby and Queen's Plate winner, Northern Dancer is pictured after his historic Kentucky Derby win with jockey Bill Hartack and EP Taylor, owner of Windfields Farm. Windfields Farm became one of the most renowned thoroughbred stables in North America.

Thanks to Oshawa Museum for sharing the BIA photo taken during the painting.

Mural | 2.44m x 27.4m (8ft x 90ft)

This is a small portion. In 2001 Tony completed Camp X on the side of the P.U.C. building on Metcalf Street

From Tony & Anne Johnson:
The City held contests for all these murals. Each artist who entered the contest had to submit a maquette of exactly what they would paint on the wall provided. Tony won each of these 3 contests.

Tony had to visit museums and search through the Thomas Bouckley collection of photos for his material.

For each one he had to do a line drawing to scale, and we would have to project it on the wall section by section. Tony had to rent scaffolding and one time a forklift to paint these murals. Once he had the image projected on the wall, it would take two to three weeks to paint it.

Tony’s third downtown mural featuring the secret Camp X in Whitby. It was a spy school from 1941 to 1946 and the site of top-secret communications. Trained many secret service spy people who went to Europe during WWII.

One of the images in this mural is of “Bill Hardcastle”, who was the radio operator sitting at a huge radio with earphones on. The day that Tony was painting his image on the wall, someone came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around he was looking at Bill in person, now 86 yrs. old. Talk about goosebumps! w: bluewillowstudio.ca

On December 6, 1941, Camp X - Special Training School 103 officially opened on the shores of Lake Ontario. Under the auspices of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive and his Canadian Chief of Security, Sir William Stephenson, five hundred secret agent graduates were schooled in a gruelling 10 to 12-week curriculum that included hand-to-hand combat, interrogation techniques, psychological warfare, explosives training, as well as espionage, sabotage, and survival skills behind enemy lines. Hydra, the immensely powerful short-wave radio installation at Camp X, had William "Bill" Hardcastle, among its key operators. Ian Fleming, author and creator of "James Bond", was also trained here.

Oshawa Museum, 1450 Simcoe St S, Oshawa https://oshawamuseum.org/ has community memories about Camp X, collected as part of our 2004 Stories from the Homefront project.