Montreal thanks Habs for playoff run with massive park mural

Montreal -

A large art installation was unveiled at Mount-Royal park Saturday in tribute to the Montreal Canadiens after a landmark playoff run.

The piece is a massive “thank you” to the team printed in large letters along the park lawn.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante commissioned the work before contributing some of her own elbow-grease to the effort.

Plante said she wanted “to create a very special honour to the Montreal Canadiens, (who) really brought some lightness and joy in our hearts especially after 18 months of COVID-19.”

She assisted local public art company MU with the project – known for several large-scale installations, including the Leonard Cohen mural on Crescent Street.

Grand nombre de Montréalais-es ont demandé qu'une initiative soit déployée pour célébrer le magnifique parcours de nos @CanadiensMTL. C'est vrai, nos Glorieux nous ont fait vivre de bien belles émotions cette année, il fallait simplement les en remercier. Fresque par @MUmtl. pic.twitter.com/os7DqCEIqc

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) July 10, 2021

Along with the mayor, a group of Concordia arts education students worked on the piece. 

The paint-rollers were soaked with a diluted, water-soluble paint for the project – the first of its kind for MU.

“We came-up with the plan quite last minute with a call from the mayor's office, and we decided ‘why not try this out?’,” said Elizabeth-Ann Doyle, MU’s co-founder and artistic director.

“We had our arts-ed team doing workshops. I stopped them doing that and told them ‘we're all going to learn together to paint some grass!’”