NIAGARA FALLS, ON - A jury from the cultural community of Niagara Falls has decided upon the proposed work, "The Birth of The Artist," by Dillon Douglas, for the City of Niagara Falls Main Street Digital Art Mural.
The winning proposal was selected from 30 submissions, and was based on the response to the competition’s goal and themes, appropriateness and artistic excellence. It will be 32m wide x 3.4m high and installed on the exterior of the upcoming Exchange Market Hall building, located at the corner of Main Street and Ferry Street. The artist is rewarded $7500 for their work.
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“We wanted to create something supremely vibrant, modern and complex. We didn't want to create just a mural. We wanted to create a manifesto—one of inclusivity, artistic dynamism and freedom. Things that the Niagara Falls Exchange will embody. The mural is about metamorphosis: the artist changes, mutates, evolves--putting themselves on the line, leaping off a ramp into the sky, like the daredevil. It's a story about struggle, possibility and evolution. Near the end of the mural, we also wanted to include a music machine and a tractor to acknowledge the multi-functional nature of the Exchange as a cultural hub and farmer's market--that it's truly a place of community and inclusivity. The two hands that frame the piece hold us together, hold the mural together, hold the community together. We are all part of this story, regardless of our particular identity.” -Dillon Douglas
About Dylan Douglas
Dillon Douglas is a self-taught visual artist from Canada working in a variety of different mediums (oil, acrylic, pastel, spray paint and digital). He has a BA in English Literature and a MA in Theory and Criticism. In 2022, he was the recipient of the Allister Young Arts & Culture Endowment Fund. He is an iridescent member of the Niagara art community and seeks to make the area a cultural force to be reckoned with.
View Douglas' artist statement here, or visit his Instagram account: @poetry.sux.
About the Niagara Fall Exchange
The new Niagara Falls Cultural Hub & Market will become a vibrant centre of activity in the community by providing shared spaces where artists, musicians, food vendors and patrons, and local businesses can come together and create. Located in the historic Main and Ferry district, it will include a large culture and market hall, café, artist studios, creative workshop and public washrooms surrounded by two multi-functional civic plazas that interconnect the flanking streets. The Market Hall, which will house the regularly scheduled Farmers’ Market, will be a space for other events that include music, theatre, lectures and other weekend markets. Currently, the Exchange is on target for opening early 2023.
Public art helps strengthen the city’s visual identity, stimulates the economy, and enhances tourism and community pride.
To learn more, visit letstalk.niagarafalls.ca/culturalhubandmarket
For more information, contact:
Kim Van Stygeren
Cultural Development Coordinator
City of Niagara Falls
[email protected]
