A striking new mural has appeared on the side of a building at Bank Street and Fifth Avenue in the Glebe, and if you haven't walked by it yet, it's worth going out of your way to see.
The work, by Ottawa-based muralist duo Terrain Collective, spans three stories and depicts the history of the Rideau Canal from its construction in the 1820s through to the present day. It was commissioned by the Glebe Business Improvement Area as part of a broader public art initiative along Bank Street.
What the Mural Shows
The mural is organized chronologically, reading left to right. On the far left, Algonquin figures are shown along the waterway in pre-contact times; the canal's route follows traditional travel paths that the Algonquin had used for centuries. Moving right, the mural depicts the construction years (1826–1832), when thousands of Irish and French-Canadian labourers worked under brutal conditions to build the 202-kilometre waterway.
The centre of the mural focuses on the canal's life as a working waterway, log drives, steamships, early tourism, before transitioning to the 20th century and the canal's emergence as a leisure and cultural landmark. The right side of the mural arrives in the present: the Rideau Canal Skateway, the spring tulips, the summer paddleboats.
The Artists
Terrain Collective (Jade Nguyen and Marcus Elliot) have been creating large-scale public murals in Ottawa since 2018. Their previous work includes pieces at Lansdowne Park, in the Glebe, and along the O-Train corridor. Both are Ottawa-born.
Finding It
The mural is at the corner of Bank Street and Fifth Avenue in the Glebe, directly across from the Glebe Community Centre. It's visible from the street and accessible by foot, bike, or bus (Route 7).
Source: Ottawa Life Magazine / RSS
