Artistic Coordinater Brandon Howard and summer intern Dara DeGrave add the final grout to a tile mural in front of The Canvas Gallery & Studio on June 29. Canvas artist Susy Martin made nearly 2,000 clay faces. Larger square tiles made by community members during a fundraiser form the border of the mural, and Marianne Manning made the glass mosaic top.

Artistic Coordinater Brandon Howard and summer intern Dara DeGrave add the final grout to a tile mural in front of The Canvas Gallery & Studio on June 29. Canvas artist Susy Martin made nearly 2,000 clay faces. Larger square tiles made by community members during a fundraiser form the border of the mural, and Marianne Manning made the glass mosaic top.

The Canvas’ mural is complete

The mural outside The Canvas Community Art Studio and Gallery is complete.

Artistic coordinator Brandon Howard said the unused, empty space “used to drive me nuts.”

“It was just this big sore spot on the side of the building,” he said. So he came up, three years ago, with the idea of a mural.

Canvas artist Susy Martin made each of the almost 1,000 one inch by one inch porcelain faces in the mural; the community made the tiles for the mural at Sandy Beach, in a bonfire. The completed mural is 8 by 12 feet and capped by a glass mosaic.

Now, “it’s awesome watching tourists go by and take photos,” Howard said. “People make a face and get their picture taken in front of the face wall.”

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