Viola Desmond mural going up in Halifax’s Mulgrave Park neighbourhood
Posted Aug 26, 2019 09:25:00 AM.
A new mural featuring Viola Desmond will be among the paintings being added to Mulgrave Park in Halifax this week.
It's part of the 'Paint the Park' event that will complement existing murals in the north end, as artists from across Canada and the U.S. work to finish a series of murals that will change graffiti-covered walls in the neighborhood.
Michael Burt is one of the artists taking part in the festival and tells Global News 'Paint the Park' is meant to bring awareness to some of the conditions of Mulgrave, and to make it brighter and better.
Burt is working on a colourful tribute to Viola Desmond.
“I've been talking to a lot of people and they really admire her, and some of her relatives actually live in the community,” Burt explained. “I just thought it was about time to put her up.”
Desmond was a Nova Scotia civil rights pioneer and businesswoman who was arrested in 1946 for refusing to leave a whites-only section at a theatre in New Glasgow.
Her face is now featured on the new $10 bill that was released last year.
