A partnership between the City of Oshawa and Durham College, the Civic Square community mural project has asked students from the School of Media, Art and Design's Community Collaboration course to develop mural concepts based on aspirations of the community.

146 members of the Oshawa community completed a public survey late last year. Each student developed a concept based on the survey feedback from the community, and from there, three finalists were selected by the City of Oshawa and guest reviewer Linda Jansma, Senior Curator at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery.

The community was then tasked as the creative director again and asked to rank the three finalists in order of their preference. Over 400 community members ranked the three finalists, with 50.5 per cent of the votes indicating Allanah’s mural (A) as their preferred option for installation. Kristen Sali (B) and Maria McGarry (C), the other two finalists, split the remaining 49.5 per cent almost evenly.

The eleven students in the course will bring together their combined skills to install the selected design, chosen by you, in late spring along the retaining wall outside City Hall, along Centre St.

Thank you to the students involved in the project: Allanah Larsen (Mural A designer), Maria McGarry (Mural C designer), Kristen Sali (Mural B designer), Alex Jack Duffy, Stephanie Galanis, Shaun Robinson Gray, Lauren Memrik, Vincent S.F. Neal, Scott Shepel, Kristie Yuill, and Eliza Hanko.