A trio of local artists have put their stamp on a former Holiday Inn that has been turned into a private student residence.
Three murals have been painted, including one on the exterior of the 601 Scottsdale Dr. building.
"That exterior wall was kind of a last minute idea that they had," Gillian Wilson told GuelphToday.
"I had a completely different design, and I had to come up with that one pretty quickly. I guess I just thought I'll work with the grid that's there already and use it to my advantage, and just keep it simple."
What resulted was a colourful piece that can be seen at the corner of Scottsdale and Stone Road.
Wilson came on board after her friend and fellow artist Devon Sioui reached out to her.
Originally, Sioui was contacted by someone at Forum Equity Partners – the developer of the project to convert the hotel to student housing, which got unanimous support from city council in April – to paint some murals.
"The scope of the project was a lot larger (back then)," Wilson said. "I think they wanted to do half of the exterior outside, so it was going to be a really (large piece), so we needed more of a team."
That's when Wilson got in touch with Quinn Henderson. The team was bigger than the three, but when the project changed to its final iteration, the three went to work.
Wilson said the designs themselves were the easy part.
"They sent us their branding package, with colour inspiration and stuff," she noted. "But apart from that, they weren't too particular."
"They were really open to anything," added Henderson, who designed the mural inside the gym on the main floor.
He said he wanted to do something fitting for the space, but also something he could realistically accomplish.
"It's like 40 feet wide, which is pretty wild," he said. "It's the biggest thing I ever made."
Sioui, who designed a linear work in the lounge area of the main floor, said the whole project was a massive effort.
All three helped to paint the exterior wall, which came with its own challenges.
"We had to do heights training and lift training and for some of us (like me), get over our fear of heights," Sioui said.
"It did seem impossible at times because we didn't have much time to complete it once the designs were approved, and it was a constant battle against the elements."
Sioui said it was a good bonding experience too, and all three learned a lot throughout.
"Gillian and I were friends before, and it was nice to experience this together," she said.
"She suggested we bring Quinn on board because of his ample mural and lift driving experience, and he was such an essential asset to the success of the project."
It's prime real estate to showcase the work. The building sits on the corner of Scottsdale and Stone Road, across the street from Stone Road Mall.
All three always wanted to do something of this scale, but Wilson felt it was more difficult to do in Guelph compared to other cities. Getting this opportunity, she added, is great and would be happy to do another mural at some point.
"It's pretty crazy," said Henderson. "Both of us make art all the time, so you just sort of … it just becomes a job in a way, just because it's part of your life, you don't really recognize the impact of it.
"And then you do something really massive and you go 'oh this is actually pretty cool.'
"It's bizarre, it's a weird feeling."
