Public art gallery embellishes ‘neglected urban space’ under Highway 40 in Saint-Michel

A new urban art gallery has brought fresh life to a previously neglected space in Montreal’s East End — under the pillars of Montreal’s Highway 40, is home to the Quartier des arts du cirques’ collection of 20 frescoes painted at Crémazie Boulevard around D’Iberville Street.

Located in the heart of Saint-Michel, nearly a dozen local muralists joined forces to help revitalize the Saint-Michel neighbourhood through a pilot project aimed at welcoming and attracting pedestrians and cyclists.

“The idea was really to have the youth and the artists from the community express beauty on this highway,” said Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, General Director of the Quartier des arts du cirques.

“We thought we wanted to work with the community, by the community, for the community, with artists from the community and make a statement.”

Haitian and queer culture, sensory art, and Afro-diasporic spirituality are just some of the inspirations behind the artworks by eight mural artists, mostly from the Saint-Michel area. Artworks vary from self-portraits to experimental — all through a surrounding theme central to the environment, with pillars being painted between late June and July 6.

“To have art right under the highway, I think it’s beautiful. It makes Saint-Michel and the whole area nicer for whoever drives around or walks around,” says artist Marc-Alain Félix – who draws from his Haitian roots as inspiration.

“There’s so many different people from different countries, from different backgrounds that it mixes everything and that’s what makes Montreal so diverse and has so much potential,” he said on Montreal’s artist scene.

The project highlights a plurality of identities, sensibilities, and narratives through the works of artists. Artists include MALICIOUZ, who explores Afro-diasporic spirituality, Izabelle Duguay, who blends organic forms and minimalist geometry, Bryan Beyung, Kaori Izumiya, Keithy Antoine, MÏNS, and Omar Bernal, an artist of Mexican origin.

Brunelle said one of their main goals is to solve the accessibility problem, and by showcasing residents that they too can enjoy exploring the area.

“By enhancing a previously neglected urban space, our intention is to instill beauty, pride, and belonging in a neighbourhood brimming with creativity,” explained Brunelle.

“This open-air gallery illustrates our desire to make Saint-Michel a place where art engages with the city and its citizens, thereby attempting to heal the divide that isolates the neighbourhood.”

Félix and other artists have been instrumental in working with youth in the area – including those at the nearby pop-up shop, featuring the artists’ merchandise. Pop-up worker Sylvina Desilus said her role is to show commuters the area while selling merchandise at the pop-up.

“There’s many different stuff to look at the pop-up. So I definitely recommend people to come and look at them,” she said.

“It’s really something extraordinary, to dress up in this way a place that’s been left to its own devices, dilapidated, I might say, and it will enhance the landscape,” explained curator and artist Obed José.

Brunelle said they look to the Berlin wall — known as the world’s largest exterior art gallery spanning 1.3 km as inspiration and a goal to surpass in the next phases of the project.

“What we would like to do eventually, you know, making this a larger art gallery, is have some Montreal artists that come and write sort of a wish to the Cartier Saint-Michel,” he said.

Brunelle went on to explain that this also helps eliminate a divide amongst boroughs, while hoping to be a starting point to inspire commuters and youth who look out their window.

Guided tours with artists run until August 3 – with more information available on their website

“They could do the whole thing completely, you know, from the west to the east, I think, would be great,” said Félix. “It’s good for the citizens, the public. I think it has a huge impact on the whole city, actually, you know, for artists, for the youth.”