RISK to paint the largest mural in Canada on Sudbury’s old St. Joseph’s Hospital during Up Here
Up Here 5 will shatter the record for largest mural in Canada next month with an 80,000 square foot mural in Sudbury, Ont. World-renowned street artist RISK is painting the old St. Joseph’s Hospital on Paris Street during the fifth-anniversary edition of the urban art and music festival, which runs Friday, August 16 to Sunday, August 18, in Downtown Sudbury.
The mural overlooking Ramsey Lake will be four times bigger than the current record holder. Up Here worked with guest curator and contemporary graffiti-sculptor KWEST to attract RISK, who’s known for his large-scale, intensely colourful pieces of public art.
“We are thrilled to collaborate on this exciting project for Sudbury. This will likely become the biggest piece of contemporary art in Canada,” said Angelo Butera, CEO and president of Panoramic Properties. “It’s our pleasure to provide the canvas to Up Here and their team.”
The Power Up Project is also back for a third straight year, providing electrical utility boxes as canvasses for six more local artists.
Kelly Graval AKA RISK
RISK is one of the biggest names in the American street art and graffiti scene. His career spans over 30 years of an intense dedication to spray paint. He made a strong impact on the evolution of graffiti as an art form worldwide by pushing the boundaries with his unique letterforms. He was one of the first writers in Southern California to paint freight trains, and he pioneered writing on freeway overpasses.
“His work is eye candy. RISK transforms spaces. When people drive past it on Paris, or see it from across the lake, it will look like a dream factory,” said Christian Pelletier, festival co-founder. “It’s going to tell the world that Sudbury is one of the coolest, most creative places to live.”
The mural locations for Up Here’s other muralists—TRAV MSK, Laura Peturson, and Matti Lehtelä—will be
announced shortly.
Up Here is once again able to count on the support of Barrydowne Paint and Equipment World to provide paint and rental equipment for the festival. This year’s murals are also made possible thanks to the support of Panoramic Properties, Greater Sudbury Utilities, TD, CBC Sudbury, and Surface Art.
Fifth-anniversary edition
Up Here 5 will present three days of concerts by more than 40 emerging and established artists including dance-funk legends ESG, indigenous hip-hop group Snotty Nose Rez Kids, and Juno award-winning electro-pop duo Milk & Bone, among others. The urban art festival will also transform public spaces with immersive art installations, surprise concerts, a giant geodesic dome, and a pop-up bar on Durham Street.
For the complete artist lineup, visit uphere.com or download the official Up Here app. For insider tips and behind the scenes stories, stay tuned to the Up Here blog at uphere.com/blog.
Up Here has been able to thrive with the support of countless allies. A special thanks to Downtown Sudbury, Canadian Heritage, the government of Ontario, Barrydowne Paint, Equipment World, Greater Sudbury Utilities, the Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Creates, the City of Greater Sudbury, Sudbury Tourism, RBC Royal Bank, Laurentian University - McEwen School of Architecture, Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations a Glencore Company, Collège Boréal, Bureau des affaires francophones de l’Université Laurentienne, Duplicators, Copy Copy Printing, Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario, Downtown Sudbury Art Crawl, CBC Sudbury, Exclaim!, Sudbury.com, Sudbury Living, Hot 93.5, Rewind 103.9, CKLU 96.7 FM, A.Side, Stack Brewing, Studio123, and many more.
