Monday Mural

I'm linking up at Monday Mural

June 2020 - Welland ON

I was first introduced to the murals in Welland ON by a fellow Monday Mural contributor, Tom The Backroads Traveler from Rochester New York, who has featured most of these murals below.

Click here for more of the murals.


'Education' by Risto Terenen. Is is based on old photographs of teachers, principal, students and school.

'Upbound at Midnight' by Ross Beard. Night scene of ship travelling south on the canal to Port Colborne.

'Welland Fair' by Hohn Hood. Scenes from the 1940, 1958, 1975 Welland Fair.

'The Cordage Community' by Marsha Charlebois. Plymouth Cordage Co. employees of 1906 at work and play.

'Tell Me About the Olden Days' by Dan Sawatsky. Free standing wall portraying arrival of immigrants around 1910.

'Little Helper' by Dan Sawatsky. Farm family fo father, son, grandson.

'The Welland Club' by John Hood. Lawn bowling activities of 1920 at the club.

'Tugboats' by Stefan Bell. 1920 tugboat "Hector" pulling barges and ships through the canal.

'Steam Engine' by Ron Baird. Train used in the constrution on the old canals Side fo Bell Building.

'Downtown Welland' by Philip Wolf. Commercial life in early Welland.

'Main Street' by Mike Svob. Another commercial scene of early city.

'Canal Construction' by Bas Degroot. Construction of the Welland by-pass.

Day Trippin' - Welland ON

June 2020 - Welland ON

Weekend Reflections
Sculpture Saturday
Weekly Recap
Monday Mural lots more murals

In these strange and weird times I don't see any foreign travel on our horizon. But we have plenty of places to explore near home.

For our first day trip of the season we headed to Welland ON.

City of Welland is a truly historic canal city situated in the heart of the Niagara Peninsula. Originally known as Aqueduct in 1829 (literally because a wooden aqueduct was built to carry the Welland Canal over the Welland River), the area became the Village of Welland in 1858. Known officially as the Rose City, Welland is also home to over 350 acres of fine parks and has one of the finest rose gardens in the country. It is also home to the Welland Canal, is a ship canal connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions none of the museums or the canal itself were open. 

We brought a picnic so we wouldn't have to depend on takeout. Restaurants can only do takeout. 

The roses were not yet in bloom either.

Our main objective were to fins 30 or so murals tracing the city's history. I'm not going to cover all of them here, I'll save some for Monday Mural.

There were some that we couldn't find.

To beautify the city, Welland commissioned artists from across Canada to paint murals on the sides of buildings. More than two dozen permanent, colourful murals depicting historical themes of the region now grace the city, adding a rich visual element to the urban landscape. Started in 1986, this is an ongoing project with new murals being added periodically.

Towpaths" at 1030 Niagara Street North, by Ross Beard, depicts a sailing ship being pulled through the Canal in the 1800's.

Welland Dairies" at 871 Niagara Street North, by Mike Svob, has three panels showing the milk business in the early 1900's

"History of the Niagara Peninsula" at 800 Niagara Street North on the Sears building at the Seaway Mall. This mural depicts the cultural and economic development of the Niagara Peninsula.

"Welland Trolley" at 1 Niagara Street, by David More. The NS&T trolley brought visitors to the Welland County Fair on Denison Street from 1910 to 1930.

Three Historical Scenes" at 115 Division Street is by Toronto artist John Hood. It consists of three panels each containing a great deal of historical detail.

"Wagons" at 250 Division Street, by Andrew Miles. This is a stained-glass effect of several turn-of-the-century wagons and buggies.

No water in the fountain due to Covid 19 concerns, but a couple of beavers frolicing at the Transit Terminal.

The Welland Recreational Canal Corporation and the Welland Arts and Culture Advisory Committee partnered to create an artistic legacy; a unique initiative involving local artists creating works of art using traditional canoes as canvases.

We happened upon some of them.


Marion Forget - Star Constellations

We wanted to find a park to enjoy our lunch and after a wrong turn happened upon the perfect spot.

Chippawa Park is home to The Welland-Crown War Memorial. This memorial is a nationally significant sculpture. It is the last large World War I memorial to be built in Canada, commemorating soldiers and their sacrifices made for our communities.

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A living room set isn’t the normal furnishing one would expect in a public park.

But in Welland, the city where Ablan Leon opened the first Leon's Furniture on King St. in 1909, it’s the perfect tribute to a successful businessman who built his fortune on honesty and fairness.

It features a bronze statue with Ablan sitting on a couch along with two recliner chairs and a coffee table.

The Welland Canal - bridge 13, or as more commonly known locally, the Welland bridge is a vertical lift bridge located in the heart of downtown Welland. The bridge crosses an abandoned portion of the Welland Canal known as the Welland Recreational Waterway.

Welland Amphitheatre.

1923 New Carnegie Library constructed. The architect, Norman Kearns, chose a Georgian Colonial style as the basis of the exterior design.

There is another canoe at the Museum next to the library.

The Welland Canal Memorial monument was built to commemorate the hard working people from Canada and around the world who came to the Niagara Peninsula to build this waterway known as the Welland Canal. It  reminds us of the importance of multiculturalism to Welland's development in the past, present and future. Industries, business professionals, and citizens have prospered here in Welland and the Niagara Peninsula because of the efforts of the people who built the canal. Some lost their lives digging with picks and shovels, many left their families in their homelands who came to Canada in search of work.

Bas Degroot, the renowned artist and sculptor, designed the fountain and bronze statues.

A bowling alley with Covid-19 hope posters.

Repurposed church.

Built in 1919, at a cost of $45,851, the three-storey brick hall on the corner of Division Street and Hellems Avenue served as a city fire station for nearly a century until its closure in 2006.

Back on East Main Street.

Another canoe.

Another mural, Working Women recognizing the contributions of women in the factories of Welland.

A canoe as we started home.