Culture pour tous

MU aT THE Habitations Jeanne-Mance

The challenge of collaboration

In creating MU in 2006, Elizabeth-Ann Doyle and Emmanuelle Hébert gave themselves a vehicle to carry out mural projects in Montreal in partnership with the community. During the summer of 2009, it is at the Habitations Jeanne‑Mance—a social housing haven—that they carried out their 15^th artistic project.

In the 50s the city of Montréal demolished a large block in the downtown area in order to build an important social housing complex, the Habitations Jeanne-Mance. Today the complex houses 1,700 persons from diverse backgrounds—74 different cultural communities are represented there—among which 375 youth under the age of 17.

The 50^th anniversary of this complex, situated between Sanguinet and Saint-Dominique streets on the north‑south axis, and Ontario and Maisonneuve on the east-west axis, served as the trigger of an aesthetic revitalization project in collaboration with MU, a not-for-profit organization set up in 2006 by Elizabeth-Ann Doyle and Emmanuelle Hébert to propose mural art projects to be created in partnership with the community.

For MU a project at the Habitations Jeanne-Mance represented an ideal context to implement the organization’s objectives through the proposal of a three-part embellishment project: two murals painted along boulevard de Maisonneuve, a giant mosaic at the main building’s entrance, and the transformation of 22 dumpsters into artworks. The projects were to be carried out during the entire summer of 2009 with the active participation of young and not-so-young residents.

At the beginning of the discussions the Corporation d’habitation Jeanne-Mance (CHJM) was somewhat hesitant regarding the murals—a term that is often associated with graffiti problems—but the project on a whole, the artistic direction and creation concept in collaboration with the residents played in MU’s favour. The theme of the works was imposed to make sure that it fit in with the CHJM’s general intervention plan: nature and vegetation. For those who are familiar with this modest, largely pedestrian residential block, which has lawns but hardly any landscaping, the theme came as soothing news. It demonstrates that the concerned administrations recognize the need and the firm will to remedy the situation. An important investment program is notably aimed since 2004 to improve the exterior facilities.

From this point onward MU developed an aesthetic proposition acceptable to all: the CHJM, the rental committee, partners, sponsors… “We sought artistic cohesion,” Elizabeth-Ann Doyle stated. “It must resonate,” she specified. Throughout the process, and this from its inception, one needs to establish a close relationship that fosters dialogue between the artists and the community.

Scott Harber, the artistic director of the dumpster transformation, led the mural art workshops for the youth with who he then proceeded to repaint the 22 dumpsters on the site. Each has an approximate surface area of 7.5 m² (80 ft²), which gives an idea of the extent of the task at hand. The dumpsters were first cleaned and repainted black before the intervention by the budding artists, who collaborated by painting stenciled vegetal motifs in bright colours and with organic lines; an activity overseen by Scott Harber, who finished a BA in art education at Concordia University this year. Each dumpster displayed a unique design, and here and there revealed the young residents’ faces which were also painted using the stencil method. The artist made the sketches and painted the more difficult features, while the youth mostly filled in the stencils. “Aerosol painting requires a certain dexterity,” Scott Harber explains between two dumpsters, before readying an umpteenth new aerosol spray can…

The monumental also appears to have been the order of the day for the mosaic mural! The surface to be covered was 36 m long by 6 m high (120 x 20 ft), and the estimated quantity of ceramics required for the project was 560 kg, with just about as much for the grout. For the mosaic artist Laurence Petit, from the atelier Gogo Frisette, this was to be her first large-scale mural; a work based on an illustration by Christian Robert de Massy. Corinne Lachance and Caroline Simard, two art students hired for the summer, assisted the artist in the mural creation. Together they directed the production workshop where the participating residents congregated every day. This is where the formats were prepared and pieces broken during the mornings. Even old dishes were broken in order to integrate the pieces into the mosaic, “a liberating act for the residents who were willing to break the pieces,” Elizabeth-Ann Doyle warmly recounts in evoking their enthusiastic participation. Around 15 persons of all ages and origins participated on a daily basis in the workshops, and she reckons that about a 100 people participated in the preparation and the mounting of the pieces on the entrance wall of the Habitations Jeanne‑Mance’s main building.

As for the muralists David Guinn and Philip Adams, guest artists from Philadelphia, the mediation took place mostly in the form of a dialogue. Every day, the residents passed by the murals under construction and talked with the artists whose summer in Montreal has become an unforgettable memory. And, as if to show their attachment to the resident who visited them every day with her little dog, they integrated the dog into one of the murals, Rush of Fall; which is the one displaying an autumn scene, while the other, Haze of War, shows a winter twilight scene. A seasoned muralist, David Guinn has created over thirty murals in the last ten years. For him murals are urban beacons, especially when they transform a banal, ugly or soulless building in a colourful and daring way. “They are authentic landmarks in the city, they create ownership, proudness and they inspire other improvements,” he confidently states before concluding on a touching note: “J'aime Montreal.”

Drawing on their experience in cultural organization, Elizabeth‑Ann Doyle and Emmanuelle Hébert set out to develop mural art in Montreal by taking inspiration from Philadelphia, where there are currently nearly 3,000 urban frescoes created over the last 25 years thanks to the city’s Mural Arts Program. At the outset, and this goal has not changed, the project sought to strengthen social bonds and to discourage graffiti vandalism, two objectives that are dear to municipal organizations…

This embellishment project at Habitations Jeanne‑Mance required meticulous preparation with multiple partners. It has involved the contribution of a great number of people, from June 22 to September 18, 2009—the official inauguration day during which the MU promoters underlined to what point the experience turned out to be an artistic, community and social success.

Thank you:

MU remercie ses artistes et employés, les résidents des HJM, les responsables pour la CHJM, Anick Dubuc et Esther Giroux, ainsi que les partenaires suivants : la CHJM et le syndicat des employés d'entretien, l'arrondissement Ville‑Marie, OpérationMontréal.net, le gouvernement du Québec (MICC et MAMROT), Service Canada, Benjamin Moore, Gaz Métro, Céragrès, Loisirs Saint-Jacques, la table du faubourg Saint-Laurent et l'Éco-quartier Saint-Jacques.

From left-to-right: Scott Harber, Elizabeth‑Ann Doyle, David Guinn, Emmanuelle Hébert