New mural on Ontario Street celebrates local music and artists
By: Lisa Chester
A new mural has been installed on the side of the Milky Whey building on Ontario Street that catches the eye as you come into the downtown core. Music is a celebrated art form in Stratford and now it has been captured by mural artist Shane Drever in a landmark design.
The call for mural artists resulted in 47 submissions to the committee hosted by the Stratford BIA. The musical concept was to celebrate the music of Stratford and pay tribute to the musicians past and present. A group of people with local music industry, radio, recording industry experience helped decide where they needed to go and who would be put on. A separate jury was established for the artwork to be used.
The final concept is called Strike Up The Band and it features a 45 record complete with the centrepiece recognizable to those of a certain age. At the forefront are instruments; a piano, a guitar and a standup bass that are said to conceal the bands that appear to have been missed. There are about 50 bands and musicians detailed on the record.
“I’ve worked on it for about 10 days. I started out doing murals in high school where people would contact the school asking if there were students to paint their kid’s room. It was my first mural and they have just gotten bigger since then. By far, I think this one is my favourite,” said Drever.
He works the old-fashioned way, with measuring tape and string. Projectors and VR headsets are not his style. He will measure things out visually with string, then tape it up to represent what he is trying to get up. If the string looks wrong, he can simply move it. Then he marks in the lines once it looks right by hand.
“Because it’s that style, it looks like it fits on this building. When you come up the street, it looks almost like it’s always been here,” Drever said.
Over the course of the days that he has been painting the community reaction has been outstanding with many people stopping to chat and tell their own stories about music in Stratford.
“One of the bands on there is Small Town Strip Club and they came and gave me a hat. They were super excited and he lives just up the street. The community already feels really positive, and they’re coming to make sure they tell me that they feel positive about it. I really, really, appreciate that,” adds Drever.
Jamie Pritchard, general manager of the BIA, also wants to give credit to his wife Cathy for her input. It was her idea to make the record a 45 with the plastic centrepiece fondly remembered by so many of us.
“No one knows what it is anymore but there’s something hidden in that piece and I’m not going to tell you what it is. Just take a good look. It would be nice for everybody to go look at that centrepiece and decide for themselves,” teased Pritchard.
The BIA is compiling an extensive list of musicians and bands connected to Stratford and our area and is turning that list into a series of Spotify playlists – the “Sounds of Stratford.” Soon, visitors will be able to access the playlists through QR codes located at the mural, as well as through the Downtown Stratford BIA website. This will allow residents and visitors to not only see Stratford’s musical story, but to hear it as well.
A special thank you from Pritchard also goes to all the visitors who come to Stratford and stay in one of the fine inns and hotels, and to the accommodators who work every day to make their experience memorable. Their continued support of the community helps make projects like this possible and contributes to the vibrant arts, culture and hospitality that make Stratford such a special place. Funding for this mural can be attributed to the Municipal Accommodation Tax.
Additionally, thanks goes to Dulux Paints, Old Pointe Properties, the City of Stratford, Fresh by Selena, Littlebig Creative and Nathan McKay for their contributions to helping bring Strike Up the Band to life.
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