Located at 17 Hellems Avenue Welland this is the largest mural made for the Festival of Arts. Hood likes to work from old photographs, but also likes the way the lines are blurred on a photocopy. This mural has several of these “blurred lines” with bright, bold colours to give it the quality of a vivid dream.

In 1911 several businessmen created a place to gather and network professionally.
The Welland Club was established on the bank of the canal (1 Griffith Street, right on King Street) and only closed in 2001.
In 2013, the city tore down the abandoned building that the mural was situated behind which has proven beneficial in the ability to see the mural in a fully unobstructed view for the first time in many years and also in eliminating potential damage caused by the neglected building.

Hood “works in a contemporary style that refers strongly to his interest in the painting of the 18th,19th and 20th centuries. He is mainly interested in dealing with atmosphere and mood in urban and rural landscapes in a Canadian context; the figure is a very important component of this activity.” (from his site: https://johnahood.com/)

A member of the Ontario Society of Artists, his paintings are in numerous collections across Canada.This is one of three murals John Hood created for the Festival of Arts. The other murals he completed were “Welland Fair” and “Three Historical Scenes.”

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Our next Meet and Greet is 7pm on February 3 at The Bank Art House (22 King St) as we kick off our 2nd year of working towards putting Welland on the map as an Arts Hub.
All are welcome.

With our weekly posts about Welland artists and significant artistic works in the city, WCN is continuing to highlight the Welland Murals. Over the progression of these posts, we’re now looking at some of the murals that have endured significant damage as an impetus towards a more effective arts & culture policy from the city and relevant stakeholders.