With our weekly posts about Welland artists and significant artistic works in the city, WCN is continuing to highlight the Welland Murals.

WAGONS | | 1988 (located at 250 Division Street Welland)

Northern Ontario artist Andrew Miles created this brightly-colored polychromatic work that is rendered in a stained-glass style: each object is composed of numerous geometric shapes of block colors that are outlined in black.

The mural emphasizes the importance of horse-drawn vehicles in Welland’s history by depicting a variety of turn of the century wagons and buggies. You can also see a milkman walking to his milk truck as well as a sign for the store Moore & Son Implements. The fractured painting style of this mural is a significant departure from Mile’s usual artistic style as his other murals lean more toward a naturalistic approach to objects.

Wagons looks like a window into the past if viewed about 100 feet away and with bright sunlight shining on it. Miles had a great fascination with light and atmospheric phenomena.

He also produced a number of murals located in the area of Gravenhurst and the Muskoka Lake Regions of Ontario.

Miles passed in 2012, but a site dedicated to his painted works can be enjoyed here: http://juhanpuhmmusic.ca/andrew-miles.html

Follow WCN on social media and sign up for our newsletter. We will continue – both in partnership with groups or overcoming apathy from others – to platform the issue of the Welland Murals, and to push forward in using this situation as a lever to improve civic commitment to culture (and ensuring that responsibilities are met, and will be met, in the future).