A STEPS TORONTO MURAL PROJECT
The Hope in Chinatown
曙光再現
The Hope in Chinatown 曙光再現 is a Toronto mural project led by local artist Wenting Li and Toronto Chinatown BIA to express courage, light and community resiliency.
PROJECT AT A GLANCE
Location: 525 Dundas St W. Toronto, Ontario
Artists: Wenting Li
Year: 2021
Services: Artist Capacity Building , Cultural Planning , Public Art Management
55,000+
people experience this Toronto mural each day
1008
sq. ft of public artwork
47
community members engaged
PROJECT DETAILS
Taking place during a time of struggle for both small businesses and the community alike, The Hope in Chinatown mural aims to brighten the busy location of local restaurant Pho Pasteur with feelings of hope and courage.
Using a combination of Chinese iconography throughout the mural, Toronto artist Wenting Li considered the histories and experiences of the community members in Toronto’s Chinatown. Common across China and Asia, the red-crested crane is often used as a symbol of luck and longevity. Here, a trio of cranes fly forward, carrying a through-line of intergenerational migration and community toward a shared hope for a future where all have equal opportunities to thrive. Alongside the migratory figures, lotus flowers grow past difficult terrain at the bottom of the pond and upward into the space of air.
“It’s really meaningful to be able to paint something that is both a tribute and a hopeful intention for the Chinatown community. So far it’s very special to hear from people how the mural fits into their lives – I really want for it to form part of the fabric of a welcoming, engaged, flourishing, Chinatown.”
– Wenting Li 李文婷 , Artist
Video Credit: Selina McCallum
During the design implementation period, Wenting and project partner Toronto Chinatown BIA gathered feedback from the community on social media to shape the final mural design. Through two prompts featured on the STEPS Instagram, approximately 28 community members shared their hopes for the community’s future. Wenting also joined STEPS for an Instagram takeover to further engage with audiences and share her experience in creating her largest Toronto mural project yet!
MAIN STREET ART CHALLENGE INNOVATION WINNER
This project was made possible through I HeART Main Street, a STEPS program that began at the beginning of the pandemic to provide Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) across Ontario with placemaking and public art support as part of their main street recovery strategies. Prizes valued at $30,000 are also awarded at the end of the program to recognize exemplary projects engaging Canadian artists and the community.
As the Innovation Award Winner of the 2020 Main Street Art Challenge presented in partnership with RBC Royal Bank, Chinatown BIA received financial and other support (such as artist fee subsidies) to put towards other COVID recovery initiatives, such as The Hope in Chinatown mural with additional support from Dulux Paints. Chinatown BIA is also part of the 2021 summer round of I HeART Main Street where they have another chance to win monetary prizes for future placemaking initiatives.
Photo Credit: Selina McCallum
Learn more about STEPS main street recovery services that leverage the power of public art and creative placemaking to foster meaningful business-community relationships and create cultural spaces to attract visitors from near and far.
About Wenting Li 李文婷
Photo Credit: Selina McCallum
Wenting Li is an illustrator, painter and comics-maker born in Sichuan, China and working out of Tkaronto. Wenting is interested in colour and shape, nonlinear storytelling, the subtleties of complementing diversity in story with representation and image, personal and community histories, and tracing curves.
The Hope in Chinatown Mural is in partnership with Chinatown BIA and Dulux Paints.
It is made possible through STEPS Public Art’s I HeART Main Street program presented in partnership with RBC Royal Bank and the City of Toronto, and generously supported by the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative funded by the Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation for projects in Peel Region, and funding provided by the Government of Ontario.
