Towards the end of the previous school year Garneau’s galleria was granted a new artistic addition–a mural situated in the south-eastern corner of our main hall. No one seemed to know much about this mural, where it came from or what purpose the piece served, but it was there. With the new year upon us, it looks like this lack of knowledge has caused students to treat this piece of art with undeserving passive indifference.

Through interviews with Ms.Goldenberg and students involved in creating this art project I discovered that our Mural was first conceived by grade 11 student Zameer Bharwani after he joined the school a few years back. The goal of creating this mural was to make the school “more aesthetically pleasing” but to also “an opportunity for passionate art students to showcase their talents.”

After receiving a grant of four-hundred dollars from the Prime Mentors of Canada (of whom Zameer is a scholar) the project was underway. Our Art Council was set up to complete the project and they worked together to perfect Zameer’s design. After over a year and a half of work on the Mural it was finally complete and it was installed in our schools galleria for all to see. Below is Zameer’s interview, in which he describes in detail the process leading to the inception and creation of the mural, as well at what it represents.

“Scope”, a new addition to Garneau’s Galleria, by Zameer Bharwani.

 

 Q: What made you want to create this Mural?

A: Although Marc Garneau C.I. is an amazing school in several aspects, parts of our school, the main hall inclusive, are not the most aesthetically pleasing. I had visited Marc Garneau several times prior to it becoming my high school, but once I started to attend the school, I was in the perfect position to help beautify it. The mural was not all about aesthetics, but also an opportunity for passionate art students to showcase their talents by creating a mural that united and represented our school.

Q: How did you go about collecting money for this project?

A: During my final year of middle school, I became a scholar with the Prime Mentors of Canada, and once I entered high school, they offered me a grant application to do a project of my choice. Ms.Goldenberg was the first person I approached and once I pitched her the mural project and designs, she was ecstatic and on board. Our next person of contact was Mr.Winn, the art teacher. With his support, Rina Kang, the head artist, and I helped put the Art Council together to get the project started. Once we had all the preliminaries settled, it was as simple as completing the application and waiting for the results. Soon after, our project was approved, and we had the Prime Mentors of Canada Community Building Project Grant.

Q: How did you go about getting this mural made?

A: Once we had the Art Council put together, my initial designs were improved, each person contributing their own thoughts as to what should be on the mural. The project took about a year and half to complete, and in the process, we each gained a new set of art skills, the staff advisors included. We met on a weekly basis for about two hours working on the designs and eventually the board we intended to paint on.

The mural itself and the abstract work represents the Art aspect of the school, the sci-fi and space theme, the Science aspect, and the futuristic society, the business. If you analyze it carefully enough, you will see a young girl, leaving her mirror behind for a telescope, stepping out of the present and looking into the future, giving the mural its name, “Scope.”

 

This mural is something significant in our school and something that we should all recognize, because beside it being within itself a summation of all the different academic and artistic aspects that define our schools culture, it is also the realization of a young man’s goals. This was not a project started by the board or the administration. The challenge was set, met and completed by students of this school and it is important to recognize these efforts and to respect these students for making our school a more unique and a more beautiful place.