Laurier community members invited to Indigenous mural painting sessions with artist Mike Cywink

July 12, 2023

After an initial community engagement session in June, mural artist Mike Cywink will return to Laurier’s Waterloo campus to take part in interactive painting sessions on July 20 and Aug. 15 as part of the Laurier Library Indigenous Mural Project.   

Cywink was recently selected to create an outdoor mural on the southwest wall of the Laurier Library on the university’s Waterloo campus. The Ojibwe artist has invited the community to take part in the process through engagement and interactive painting sessions. 

Members of the Laurier community can put their own touch on the work by helping paint large canvas panels that will be incorporated into the mural.  
 
Each hour-long painting session timeslot on July 20 and Aug. 15 can accommodate 10 participants. Sessions will be held at Nadjiwan Kaandossiwin Gamik, Laurier’s Waterloo campus Indigenous Student Centre, at 157 Albert St.  

View painting session times and registration information. 

The Laurier Library Indigenous Mural Project aims to celebrate Indigenous art and culture, serve as a catalyst for creative and cultural engagement, and express Laurier’s commitment to reconciliation, decolonization, and Indigenization at the university and beyond. It is a collaboration between the Wilfrid Laurier University Library and Robert Langen Art Gallery, Laurier’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives, and university and community stakeholders.  
 
The mural is scheduled to be completed in September.  

For more information about Laurier’s Indigenous initiatives, read Laurier’s Indigenous Strategic Plan: Principles for Indigenization, Reconciliation and Decolonization.