Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage Public Art

Artist Statement:

My piece shows a day in the life of someone taking in all that downtown Kingston has to offer. It starts with someone waking up at home, a picture on the wall representing family, and a dog in the foreground, a pet, making the house a home. The sun is shining in and the person sets off on their day downtown. Relatable activities from pickle ball to football can be seen and a hand holding a tote full of fresh groceries. Birds and the trees, nature, a nod to all of our beautiful parks and green spaces in the downtown area. A hand holding a bouquet of flowers could be passed on as a gift for an occasion, a celebration - balloons. Everyday is somebody’s birthday and the city itself is to be celebrated! A hand holding a book to represent a new purchase, a trip to the library or even studying. The piece ends on the right hand side with road from City Hall leading all the way to the Rideau Heights area, to represent the transportation the bus system provides and to include the city’s inhabitants all the way to our North end. I believe that there are many elements in this mural that people will relate to on their daily commutes downtown and through the city and the colourful busy design leads viewers from start to finish with something new to see wit each glance. My hope is this mural brightens the viewers day and the Robert Bruce Parking Garage itself.

Artist Bio:

Eronone is an artist located in Kingston, Ontario. He has created several public art pieces within Kingston and the surrounding areas. Over the years, he has crafted a style and aesthetic that is unique to him, incorporating graphic and animated elements with a freestyle collage -like approach. Eronone is known for creating large-scale murals and custom artwork. He is also available for live-painting events and workshops on how to use spray-paint at any age.

*This content was written and provided by the artist and no edits have been made.

Title: “Kingston in Motion”

Artist Statement:

I’m incredibly grateful to be moving onto stage two of the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage Public Art Project. As a professional artist, Queen’s University BFA graduate, and Kingston resident, I’m excited for the chance to contribute to a space that sits at the heart of our community’s daily rhythm.

Since moving to Kingston in 2018, I’ve come to appreciate the city’s unique blend of heritage, movement, and tight-knit community. While my primary medium is printmaking, I’ve developed a series of digital illustrations for this project, specifically tailored to the DiBond panel format. These works maintain the layered textures, bold colour-blocking, and graphic patterning that define my printmaking aesthetic, creating strong visual impact at a distance. My training at Queen’s refined my sense of composition, allowing me to design works that are compelling whether viewed from the sidewalk, a passing bus, across the street, or from an apartment window above.

My proposed design, Kingston in Motion, features exaggerated, stylized figures that reflect both motion and stillness — two dynamics central to the site. As discussed in the July 2024 focus group, the garage is a space where people pause, wait, pass through, and gather. I’ve mirrored this in my composition: figures biking, skateboarding, and walking their dog are contrasted with others who stroll, sit, or share a goodbye hug. At the heart of the mural, a figure pauses to “smell the flowers” — a reminder to take a moment of rest amid our busy routines.

This proposed design brings vibrancy and positivity to the location while remaining in harmony with its surroundings. Elements like bright clothing and an arching rainbow are balanced with colours and textures sampled from the site; the butter yellow paneling and washed-out brick mimic the mid-rise buildings framing the mural on either side. The iconic blue, orange and white Transit bus on the final two panels, camouflages with the life sized versions throughout the day. These references ground the mural in its environment and reflect the character of the space.

The site itself presents unique challenges and opportunities. As a two-level garage with the skyline visible behind it. I’ve echoed these features in the composition — incorporating blue skies at the top of the first panels and drawing inspiration from the architectural textures nearby. I’ve also referenced the structure’s split-level design in panel three by introducing a dividing pathway that visually separates faster-moving figures (on bikes and skateboards) from the rest of the figures.

Each panel flows into the next to create a sense of movement and connection, reinforcing the space as both a thoroughfare and a destination. Each of the 10 panel’s composition works as its own piece of art, but connects with ease as the viewer stands back and admires it from a distance. Adding pieces of information that travels in between panels such as dog leashes, rainbows, and the park bench mimicking the one located just below it on street-level, are all ways I’ve created movement, cohesion and storytelling within the piece.

I’ve made it a priority to represent the full diversity of Kingston through the figures in my work—people of all ages, genders, orientations, abilities, and cultural backgrounds. As the child of two lesbian mothers, inclusive representation is at the core of my artistic practice. Kingston’s vibrant and multifaceted community deserves public artwork that reflects its richness.

I’ve also embedded local references that tie the work more intimately to its setting. In the first panel, a figure wears a tri-colour backpack representing Queen’s students and alumni commuting to and from campus. In panel six, Alby the squirrel — a campus icon — makes an appearance. In panel five, a man pushes a stroller, wearing a stethoscope as he walks toward Hôtel Dieu Hospital. In panel nine, a Kingston bus driver in uniform takes center stage — a tribute to the essential services that keep our city moving. And in the final panel, a man waves goodbye to the driver, his suitcase in hand, a fresh “Mom” tattoo visible on his forearm — a nod to local tattoo shops like Inkwell and True North, located just steps from the right of the space.

Ultimately, my goal is to create artwork that fosters a sense of recognition, belonging, and shared experience. Whether someone is passing through on their commute, waiting for a bus, or glancing out from their apartment window, I want them to see something familiar — a gesture, a figure, a moment — that reflects their own life and the community around them. Public art has the power to transform a utilitarian space into something more meaningful: a point of connection, reflection, and joy.

With Kingston in Motion, I aim to elevate the everyday — to capture the rhythm of movement that defines this site, while also offering moments of stillness, care, and human connection. I believe this mural can act as a visual anchor within the city: a piece that feels alive, accessible, and distinctly Kingston.

This project is more than a mural; it’s a celebration of who we are, how we move, and the stories that unfold between where we start and where we’re going. It’s a tribute to the quiet beauty of daily life and the vibrant, ever-evolving character of the city we call home.

*This content was written and provided by the artist and no edits have been made.

Title: “One through Ten”

Artist Statement:

I am proposing the work titled ,“One through Ten” For the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage Public Art Project. The work will consist of 10 panels of simple line drawings of hands making numerical gestures of the numbers 1 through 10. The way they are displayed would lead the viewer to see that, from one number to the next, you have to switch hands. i.e, 1 is shown as the right hand and 2 is shown as the left hand, 3 back to the right hand and so on until 10. After the number 5, the hands continue to switch with each number. The background colour gradient resembles the colour gradient of the setting sun. It has high visual impact at this size. The hands also have a subtle drop shadow, making them pop out of the flat surface. The view of that face of the garage is looking westward. I would hope that at some point the setting sun and the background colours would become one, connecting the work to the unique and skyline view in this downtown location.

It is my hope that the work will engage the viewer every time they are in that area. It will mimic the back and forth of the traffic in this area. The hands travel back and forth as do pedestrians and motorists. It could even be a game one plays alone or with friends, to see how fast they can repeat that numerical gesture while switching hands. The gesture of this counting is both mental and physical and is one of the primary ways in which we engage with each other and with the world. These are signs and signals only humans make. I would like to think it would draw people to this space to experience and play along. This work aims to engage both mentally and physically and perhaps spiritually.

Artist Bio:

Frank DeSa is a Kingston based Artist and Machinist/metal fabricator. He is a graduate of St Lawrence College (Fine Arts), Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BFA) and has studied at Queens University. Frank has extensive knowledge in industrial fabrication and has worked on many large scale private and public art works. He is currently aiding in a, as of yet, unannounced large scale art project for the TTC. He also created the Kingston Mayor's art awards in 2018.

*This content was written and provided by the artist and no edits have been made.

Title: “Bloomin’ Good Time”

Artist Statement:

When first creating the initial imagery for this cohesive 10-piece series, I was greatly inspired by the brainstorming from the Community Focus Group Report in addition to my own lived experience in the Kingston downtown core, specifically in the location of the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage. I knew that the final imagery needed to bring a high energy vibe that brightens the space by facilitating a colourful vitality. At the same time, the series needed to set a happy, positive tone of what people could expect to experience from the Garage down to the waterfront. After much contemplation, I began seeing a vision of what the space was missing; it was missing COLOUR! From this vision, I began designing this vibrant, brightly coloured, and edgy series of flowers and maple leaves embodying the expression of the energetic and inviting Kingston downtown core.

Two of my favourite things about the downtown core are the streetlights and flowers, both in planters along the sidewalk and hanging from the lights. To me, the downtown core has always been dreamy; a vibrant community of colourful people, activities, and businesses. I have numerous family and friend photos of us standing by flowers and under the elegant streetlights. I am certain that almost everyone who visits the downtown has their own memorable photos too. The downtown core is a wondrous place. With these streetlights and flowers as inspirations, I proceeded to create a floral series that had marketing versatility for the City of Kingston. With 10 separate images in the series, each image could be used for additional signage, shopping bag images, T-shirts, vinal wraps, etc.

In order to achieve a floral series that was edgy, rather than pretty, I turned to the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage site for inspiration. The long image series was inspired by the long busses and the wide entry to the lower garage. It mirrors the elongated movement of the space and the flow of diverse passersby. The flower petal and stem shapes were inspired by the romantic dew drop shaped streetlights and leggy poles fading into the sidewalk below. The leaf shapes in the series were inspired by the metal bracket suspending the parking sign. All these inspirational shapes are crisp yet organically relaxed, complementing the rigid, linear wall lines of the surrounding buildings and the garage itself. From a distance, the Garage looks black and deep inside, so what I did was merge the shapes with a deep black background. What the combination achieved was a graffiti-esque, traditional-tattoo-like flavour. For this piece, I wanted it to be highly reflective of a Canadian city that welcomes visitors and newcomers. As such, I incorporated maple leaves with sharp edges to link the sharp edges of the surrounding architecture.

The colouration of the mural pushes the vibrant edginess a bit further by drawing inspirations from the Pop Art Era forward. This influence on the completed piece is stunningly palpable. Site specific hues were taken from the blue and orange of the city busses, the berry pink Kingston banner, and local business branding signage. With my paint chips in hand, I held them up to the garage and when the bus came by, I put my swatches up to it to match. By doing so, the series colours seamlessly correspond with Kingston’s current branding. I took the colour balance a step further by celebrating the open sky above the garage. When viewing the garage from across the street, viewers will be inclined to look up toward the artwork and open sky rather than continuing to look into the dark garage entrance at street level. By doing this, a sense of hopefulness is imparted upon the viewer. To incorporate the sky as an integral element of the art piece, I directed the motion of flowers to reach upward, as if reaching to the sky above. The interactive component of the artwork’s colouration happens when the sky changes colour. When the sky is blue-purple, cooler toned colours will be more noticeable, and when the sky is red-orange the warmer toned colours will pop. Similarly, streetlights and the lights from motor vehicles at nighttime will illuminate different colours in the series than during the day, thus achieving an everchanging art installation throughout the day, night, and seasons.

The image series result is one that can be cherished by people of various walks of life, backgrounds, and ages. It can be vividly seen from a distance under varying light conditions, and its simplistic, recognizable imagery of intense blocks of colour brighten the space. It is a series that always looks different and invites reflection as one takes a moment to pause. It works as a transitioning conduit from pavement to sky because it sits perfectly between both and has been created through a hyper-local lens. It is a landmark image series that signifies the downtown core and main transit hub. “Where do you catch the bus?” “Over by the flowers!” I believe that this series will inspire more people to spend more time in the downtown core while elevating the spirits of all people who see it. Let’s face it, good things happen when people feel good and, to me, that is what Kingston’s downtown core is all about: a place to feel good and have a “Bloomin’ Good Time!”

Artist Bio:

Portia “Po” Chapman (BFAH, B.Ed., ACE) is a Kingston resident who creates from her private home studio. She is an award-winning professional artist and published illustrator recognized for her organic, bright, colourblocking style inspired by grapevine silhouettes cast by the noonday sun. While completing her BFAH and B.Ed. at Queen’s University, she lived on Bagot St. near the Robert Bruce Memorial Parking Garage from which she regularly took public transit to class and work. It was from here in downtown Kingston that Po’s art career blossomed and gained international recognition. Along with exhibiting and creating commissioned works locally, as an Artist in Community Education Specialist, Po has led youth art workshops at Agnes over the last few years and currently teaches Media Art/English at Loyola, Kingston. Best known for her murals, illustrations, and hand painted hand drums, two of Po’s latest 2025 commissions have been a 14’X6’ mural for Strong Enterprises and a Land Acknowledgement image series for the Township of King. Her work was also suitably featured in the inaugural Kingston Artists’ Showcase at City Hall. Po views herself as being a Visual Story Telling Installation Artist whose works invite positive viewer interaction. When asked why she creates attention grabbing, high impact, simplistically “beautiful” artworks that inspire reflection and the sharing of cherished memories, Po responds: “Life just feels better when we smile.”

*This content was written and provided by the artist and no edits have been made.