If you happen to be strolling along St. Laurent Boulevard this weekend, check out what the Montreal St Laurent Boulevard MURAL Festival and Stella Artois has done not only to democratize street art, but also present a bright, colourful piece of street art towards the cause of safe social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From now until August 23, St. Laurent Boulevard is closed to traffic between Sherbrooke Street and Mont Royal to create a pedestrian corridor for people to enjoy some outdoor dining, promenading and shopping for some quality goods at bargain prices. But at the Stella Artois Terrace that is located south of Prince Arthur Street, and operated the nearby SuWu and Warehouse restaurants, a 140-foot long colorful mural has been painted on the floor of the terrace.
It’s called Together Apart Street Art. Local artist Francorama (AKA Franco Egalite) was commissioned to create the street level mural, and has designed a mural that makes clever use of shapes, lines and contrasting colours. The end result is a work of street art that is not only visually stunning, but also helps people who visit the pedestrian mall and the terrace to practice social distancing and see how the mural magically transforms a piece of the boulevard that is flat and featureless into a dazzling visual experience.
The GOAL Initiatives Foundation
To mark its 10th anniversary, the GOAL Initiatives Foundation, whose mission is to promote mental health and wellness through soccer play programs regardless of age, race, gender or sexual orientation, presents a weekend-long virtual community event called Tous Ensemble that runs from August 21 to 23.
Usually this event – as well as their fundraising soccer tournament — is held outdoors, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the switch was made to a virtual event. This is being done through a series of 30-minute express workshops for the entire family that are all free of charge; all that needs to be done is to register at www.goalinitiatives.org.
It all starts with an opening kick-off event hosted by Patrick Langlois that will feature a live art demonstration by Fred Caron and live music by DJ Psychology. The kick-off continues with a GOAL Talks panel discussion dealing with mental health and wellness and the launch of their new Kicking It Out initiative; the panel discussion will be moderated by GOAL founder Paul Desbaillets and feature an impressive group of panellists such as Deputy Montreal Mayor Sterling Downey, No Better You founder Vanessa Grimaldi and Montreal Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush.
The remainder of the weekend will comprise of the express workshops, including a free virtual cooking workshop with chef Antonio Pak; a cocktail/mocktail mixology master class with three noted Montreal cocktail mixologists; an introductory breakdancing and toprock workshop with Pierre-Michel and AFTERNOON Jean-Louis; a movement, mobility and breathing workshop with Amy Walsh; a family soccer skills class with the Montreal Impact’s Patrice Bernier; and a concluding magic show with Montreal magician and mentalist Bao Hoang.
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