Downtown Milton unveils new colourful mural

The new mural in downtown Milton has officially been unveiled!

Hosted by the Downtown Milton Business Improvement Area (DMBIA), the local gathering saw representatives from Arts Milton and STEPS Public Art, as well as Milton Mayor Gord Krantz, Regional Councillor for Milton’s Ward 1 Colin Best, Town Councillor for Milton’s Ward 1 Kristina Tesser Derksen, Milton’s Member of Parliament (MP) Adam van Koeverden, and a representative for Milton’s Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Parm Gill. They collectively spoke and thanked artist Omar Hopkinson and his assistant Andrés Correa.

DMBIA Executive Director Rachel Shuttleworth spoke first, sharing that while the previous mural was beloved by residents, weather and time had taken its toll on the painting. She added that the wall in which it was on needed to be fixed, and that led to them deciding to paint a new mural. The mural was commissioned by the DMBIA in partnership with Arts Milton and STEPS Public Art. The project received funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) through the Canada Community Revitalization Fund and was supported by local sponsors, contributors and volunteers.

The unveiling happened on a warm and sunny Thursday, to which Milton MP van Koeverden noted was not what he expected when he first he heard the plans for an outdoor unveiling in mid-November.

Hopkinson broke down the meaning of the mural, saying each letter stood for a different aspect that he loved about the town:

• M – Multiculturalism, showing praise to the diversity of our town;
• I – Interests, noting the love for exercise in the community;
• L – Lifestyle, whether it was food or arts;
• T – Timeless, giving nods to the Indigenous peoples in our community;
• O – Old Milton, acknowledging the past that helped shape the future; and,
• N – Nature, with the defining landscape and greenbelt.

In his speech, Hopkinson also touched on the previous mural, saying that he knows how fond residents were of it. That’s why he kept a piece of it when completing the new painting, leaving the names of the previous artists on a plaque on the wall. He made sure that Main Street ran through their names, and provided the quote “The love of the past is our road to embrace the now…”

You can find the mural in the Spice o’ Life Parkette at the corner of Main Street East and Charles Street in Milton.

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