Mural festival plans to change Hamilton's 'visual landscape'

Concrete Canvas Fest and organizers Leon (Eklipz) Robinson and Scott McDonald say this year's mural festival will change the look of almost 25 buildings across Hamilton. 

"The whole idea is to change the visual landscape," McDonald said. "You really can change the mood of a neighbourhood… just by walking by and seeing colour instead of just drab walls."

The festival runs from July 18 to 24. 

Robinson said this year's Concrete Canvas Fest will be the biggest they've hosted and will feature artists from around the world.

"We've got people from London, we've got people Miami, we've got people from Havana, Montreal, Hamilton, Toronto," he said.

Discovering Hamilton through art

Robinson and McDonald ran the first Concrete Canvas in 1994. It was initially created as a way for the duo to share hip hop culture with the public, through a festival that celebrated graffiti art, break dancing and hip-hop music.

The original Concrete Canvas festival ended in 2002 and was revived in 2019 before the pandemic put the event on hold.

This year, Robinson and McDonald are expanding from the downtown core. Robinson said there are a few mural sites on the mountain as well.  

McDonald wants the festival to spread across the city so attendees can "explore… undiscovered areas of Hamilton."

The festival also aims to help people discover Hamilton's art scene, he said.   

"I'm… celebrating a bunch of Hamilton artists who are monsters on the world stage but get no recognition in the city."

One of these hidden talents is Scott Martin, who goes by the name Burnt Toast, a renowned digital artist who's former head designer for Facebook and recently collaborated with singer Pharrell Williams.

McDonald and Martin are teaming up to paint a 20-storey mural during the festival.

"He's the biggest artist to come out of Canada and he's from Hamilton, and no one knows who he is," McDonald said.

Public paint by number

The festival isn't until later this month, but McDonald has already begun working on his first piece: an interactive "paint by number" mural of the Sheraton Hotel peregrine falcons.

The mural will include a QR code that links to a website where you can use your phone's camera to paint the mural yourself and submit it to Concrete Canvas.

McDonald will project the submissions onto the mural during the last weekend of the festival. People can vote for their favourite submission and McDonald will fill the mural in with the winner.

"I just think that it's truly a first of its kind experience."

The falcon mural isn't the only interactive part of the festival. Woodland Park will have a second "legal wall" installed. A legal wall is a blank wall meant for beginner graffiti artists to legally practise their art.

Bringing the music

The festival's culmination will feature a free, two-day hip hop concert at Woodland Park with artists from the Golden Horseshoe.

Robinson recently announced the festival's secret headliner, hip hop legend Masta Ace, will perform with Toronto producer Marco Polo.  

"We want people to come out, you know, families to come out and just enjoy it," Robinson said. "It's a big open field. There will be music, and there will be vibes and entertainment for the people."