Fort chosen for Canada 150 mosaic

An iconic Fort Erie landmark will be the focal point of a creative project members of the community will work in together.

A cultural mosaic, part of this year’s Canada 150 celebrations, will be made through two dates of workshops, as well as some work ahead of the two scheduled days, June 6 and 7.

Through a successful $6,250 matching grant from Niagara Community Foundation, Fort Erie is one of 150 communities across the country that will be participating in the project, a nationwide initiative launched over a two-year period.

A town project, it was asked that an iconic object or site that represents the community be the mosaic’s main subject. After some consideration and consultation with Fort Erie Historical Museum, the Old Fort was chosen.

The mosaic consists of 400 tiles created by community members, based on a design by key artist, Lewis Lavoie. The finished product will be displayed at the Leisureplex.

The workshops will require participants to leave their own creative perspective on the local community by painting a small tile.

“Every painting will be a story and become a piece of a much bigger story,” said Bev Bradnam, project lead at town hall.

“It’s going to be a really exciting event.”

On June 6, there will be six onehour workshops and on June 7, there will be four.

Some of the tiles will be prepainted by local artists.

Expected to be unveiled close to Canada Day, the project is made possible through the NCF and the Government of Canada. Anyone wanting to participate can contact Bradnam at bbradnam@forterie. ca or 905-871-1600 ext. 2201.