From April to May 2023, artist and muralist Monica Wickeler led 8 Scarborough-based 2SLGBTQ+ youth in learning about mural making, large-scale art design, and contributing to the production of a mural on the wall at West Scarborough Neighborhood Community Centre.

As a part of this program youth received all program materials necessary to develop the mural project, including all painting supplies and an artist fee of $600.

This program was funded by the Community One Foundation and Delta Bingo and Gaming. Thank you to the West Scarborough Neighborhood Centre for generously inviting us to create a new mural on the laneway wall!

2SLGBTQ+ Youth Mural Jam Artist’s Statement

West Scarborough has served its community for decades. Providing space and comfort for its neighborhood , as well as providing a hub to connect and create friendships that last a lifetime. For this mural, our group wanted to honour this commitment to serving and sustaining this environment. Rather than doing it by conventional means, we decided to showcase this using our natural surroundings.

Here we brainstormed together a set piece showcasing the various animals that reside around Scarborough, such as cardinals, foxes, moose and geese. They are all interacting with one another in the same space , surrounded by various plants that also grow within Scarborough to assert this neighbourhood’s identity as key here. All these pieces are brought together by a centerpiece; the river, a symbol of life and sustenance that flows throughout the work. However, the river also functions as a melting pot, where beings of all walks of life come together and become part of each other’s lives.

The interconnected nature of this mural not only reflects the diverse groups of people that interact with one another, but also the many different ways kinship is formed. As fellow 2lgbtq+ individuals, finding family and connection through unconventional means is something vital to us. In displaying how these various animals interacted with one another, we wanted to emphasize how “family” comes in many different forms. Regardless of blood, or in this case, regardless of species. This mural is a representation of the community center and its function in West Scarborough as a space for joy, where anybody is welcome. To emphasize this, we’ve also shown in our mural design various iterations of the word “welcome”. With the word spoken in various languages, specifically ones to represent the demographic of West Scarborough as well as enhance the inviting presence and the multitude of voices that represent the diversity of our neighborhood. - 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Mural Jam Team