Durham College (DC) and its TeachingCity partner, the City of Oshawa, are excited to announce that a new public art mural designed by DC students has been installed on the retaining wall in front of City Hall on Centre Street in Civic Square.

Part of a community mural project which installs artwork at City Hall every other year, the theme of the vinyl mural is human rights, which augments the City’s first-ever Diversity and Inclusion Plan.

Sixteen Fine Art students in DC’s School of Media, Art & Design created the work in their Community Collaborations course – Leana Anderson, Christopher Cote, Kimberly Cuomo, Shania Dias, Devan Johnson, Amy Johnston, Tanice Laframboise, Tara Larkin, Nicole Marhong, Quinn Mcinall, Toni Mcmullen, Sonja Muskiluke, Andra Rusu, Kyle Samuel, Courtney Skovira and Viktoria Williams.

In addition to creating the final product, students also received first-hand experience working with City staff on creative placemaking, public art projects and incorporating community consultation.

“This project is a perfect example of experiential learning at its best,” said Don Lovisa, president, Durham College. “Our students are able to use their extensive talents and the skills they are learning in class in a real-world setting, which is what the TeachingCity initiative epitomizes – learning, development and research for the betterment of the broader community.”

“The community mural project is another amazing TeachingCity initiative that sees post-secondary students engage with the Oshawa community and learn from and work with City staff,” says Oshawa Mayor John Henry.

The collaborative focus of the human rights mural project prioritized public input. Community feedback (received via a survey) inspired the students’ concepts, which were then reviewed and selected by the City’s Public Art Task Force. The students’ individual concepts came together in the final mural to artistically express views, experiences and hopes for human rights.