By Scott Lemoine
A towering, leggy spider, named Maman, surveils the western border of Lowertown from the forecourt of the National Gallery. She is both portal and defender — beyond her, in climate-controlled solitude, many beautiful things hang on pristine walls.
But if Maman took a stroll through our neighbourhood, she would find art woven into the fabric of our community: often untitled, unprotected from the elements, and bound to corrode or even disappear as Lowertown changes. Our streets are more dynamic for its presence — and all we have to do to enjoy it is go out and explore.
This self-guided walking tour of the public art in Lowertown extends about 5.5 km and takes 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. It’s a loop, so you can start anywhere on the map, continuing clockwise. Find the corresponding number in the text below for information about what to look for at each stop.
(1) Outside the Dollarama, two boulders, sliced and polished, are adorned with silver half-spheres. They represent giant seed pods, part of a work that calls for the renewal of King Edward Avenue (see the sign by the garbage). Walk a few blocks north, spotting the giant metal lilies and fiddleheads sprouting along the street. Imagine it restored to its former grandeur: a tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly boulevard.
(2) Watch out for the jackalopes, mythical antler-sporting jackrabbits, painted on the plywood box in the grassy median.
(3) Overlooking the Courtyard Marriott parking lot, an immense mural depicts a 100-ton bowhead whale found in 2007 with a 100-year-old harpoon lodged in its side. On the right, see the hunter carry off the catch. Entitled Tunnganarniq, an Inuktitut word that means “to foster good spirits by being open, welcoming, and inclusive,” it was painted in 2017 by Parr Josephee and a team of Inuit youth from Cape Dorset.
(4) Peer into the fenced alley left of Giant Tiger for a tribute to Franco-Ontariens. Find the steps, where a cat and guitarist play. Above them, protesters hold signs against Règlement 17, a provincial regulation that limited French-language instruction in Ontario schools from 1912 until its repeal in 1927.
(5) On the side of the parking garage, a Jimmy Baptiste mural includes corn, squash, and beans, plants long cultivated together by Indigenous communities in this region.
(6) Look up, above the Irving Rivers shop, where a woman plays a lute. The piece was created last year by Ola Volo, a Canadian artist from Kazakhstan whose work is inspired by folklore and identity. It suggests the live music you might hear on a summer’s evening in The Laff below.
(7) If it’s open, enter the Byward Market building and ascend the stairs behind Le Moulin de Provence. You’ll pass a painting by Mique Michelle, a Franco-Ontarienne graffiti artist originally from West Nippising (whose work is also at stops 15, 20, and 25), on your way to the mezzanine. The sculpture suspended from the ceiling recalls the building’s history. Originally a hub for local farmers supplying the lumber camps nearby, a market has stood on this site since 1827. Don’t miss peeking below the cloud, where a lumberjack hangs from an angel’s arms. Down the stairs at the other end, note the mandala mural.
(8) Pass the totem pole outside the Ottawa School of Art and enter Clarendon Lanes, the first of four courtyards that wend through Lowertown. Continue straight for a temporary photography exhibit, or turn left in the courtyard to find Steel Screen from Expo ’67.
(9) Exit onto York. A temporary mural celebrating spring is painted on the pavement at the Ottawa sign. Look up the street: a rainbow-coloured mural on the second story of The Lookout Bar celebrates queer identity. It was painted on 32 panels in Spain by Venezuelan-born, Canada-raised artist Juan Carlos Noria and shipped to Ottawa.
(10) In the Jeanne d’Arc Courtyard, have a rest while being entertained by Dancing Bear and the bronze hoop artist.
(11) You’re off to find surfer shark. Cross Clarence and take a dozen steps to the right. Look back across the street to the cinder block tower behind Alora.
(12) The Tin House Courtyard has three sculptures to admire (see the signage).
(13) On Murray, make your way to the far side of the street so as not to pass over the brightly wrapped concrete planters by DRPN Soul between Parent and Dalhousie. Don’t miss the raccoon outside Khao Thai.
(14) Take a small detour left on St. Patrick. Look up the driveway of Parlour Salon at the gorgeously rendered bonsai tree and flowering wisteria vines.
(15) Three colourful murals from 2017 dominate a parking lot: a fantastical rooster, a raven, and a conductor announcing your arrival in Lowertown, as the words “North Dal” billow from the train’s smokestack. After the bustle of the market, enjoy the walk up a few quiet blocks, following St. Andrew all the way to the other side of King Edward.
(16) A mural on the side of De La Salle High School tackles the history of colonialism.
(17) Look right up Old St. Patrick, where a mural invites us to “Be Kind” in English, French, and Arabic. Notice the red little free library in the bottom corner. A few of them (the real things!) can be found in the surrounding streets.
(18) The sun is rising in a field of flowers on the side of the Lowertown Community Resource Centre, and an alphabetical unicorn prances on the sidewalk.
(19) In Jules Morin Park, check out the large utility box next to the rink, with a loon on one side and a goddess on the other.
(20) On the back of the Lowertown Community Centre building by the parking lot, don’t miss another Mique Michelle mural. The bubble-like forms recall the pool inside. Also check out the mosaic figures in red, blue, and green further on. If you make your way along the north side of Macdonald Gardens Park, keep your eyes peeled for a siege of herons in a front yard rock garden.
(21) Step across Rideau to look back at the nine-storey tall mural titled Transformation. Designed by Claudia Salguero, more than 60 volunteers from 32 countries were involved in painting the mural’s 68 panels dedicated to the contributions of newcomers to Ottawa. Walk around the glass box sculpture on the corner, seeing how the light plays off the three-dimensional grid of blue squiggles inside.
(22) Cross back to the north side of Rideau (where the mural is). At each intersection, look out for the utility boxes wrapped in bold graphic designs. Can you spot Audrey Hepburn at Charlotte, parrots at Cobourg, pink elephants at Chapel, and rhinos and tigers at Friel?
(23) By the Ottawa Public Library branch, check out another glass box grid sculpture, a companion to stop 21. On the back of Loblaws, see the mural designed by DRPN Soul, painted in the height of pandemic lockdowns and installed in summer 2022.
(24) Look to the other side of the street at Purple Meadow Cannabis Store, where a big purple bunny lounges listening to music.
(25) Pop in at All Books to find the perfect summer read or check what’s playing at the Bytowne, but before you do, take a look at the Mique Michelle and DRPN Soul collaboration on the side of the theatre. The words “L’avenir est a ceux qui luttent” to the bottom left bear a secret and special connection to stop 4. It was the motto of Le Droit newspaper, founded in 1913 to mobilize against Regulation 17. Here, the woman holding a feather and the man at the microphone evoke other struggles for recognition, respect, and self-determination.