A plain wall is turning into a blaze of colour as Toronto street artist Magic “ Finnga ” Wong works with area children and teens to turn bland into beautiful.
There's a trick to graffiti art, Finnga tells BayToday as he deftly wielded his paint can like a paint brush Monday afternoon.
"It's the artist's can control," he confides. "And colour contrasts and whether the concept relates to the environment around it."
Finnga has been doing murals for about 15 years now, but this is the first year he's actually gone on tour.
"I've got tons of murals across Ontario now and I'm branching out into other provinces, but Ontario is the most happening popular spot right now."
His latest project is the rear outside wall on a Mac's convenience store on Cassells. North Bay Police, Mac’s and Near North Crime Stoppers are inviting creative children, teenagers and young adults to join them for what's called the Mac’s StreetArt initiative.
See original story: Toronto street artist to paint giant mural on convenience store wall
Monday was day one, with the wall expected to be done by noon Wednesday.
Participants are helping prepare the base of a mural and can add their “tags” to the wall with the provided spray paint.
For the next two days, Wong will work his magic to beautify the tagged wall by creating an artistic mural.
"We'll have them practice their can control and teach them a couple of techniques. I let them do whatever they want on the mural as long as it stays within PG13 and from there I go over it, using their colours and tones, to create my image as a final masterpiece.
Graffiti art has been good to Magic Finnga, a nickname his friends gave him because of his skills at the piano.
"I've been living off of art for the last 15 years. I got my first professional gig when I was 17 doing street murals for the city (Toronto) and I've been doing it ever since," said the now 33 year old artist.
"I love doing art. You get to be outside. You get to meet people and you get to paint on a large-scale canvas, there's nothing bigger than a building.
And he fully expects it to survive long-term, saying the graffiti culture is self-policing, with other artists respecting the work of fellow artists.
It's also not your average hardware store paint can either. The can is lower pressure and comes with a variety of spray patterns.
The goals of the Mac’s StreetART Mural initiative are to create strategic partnerships, to help prevent crime and strengthen community relationships, and to convey the message that community safety is a shared responsibility.
The hope is that by engaging youth in the process, they become empowered to make wise decisions and make a positive contributions to the communities where they live.
The concept has seen positive results in other jurisdictions, not only in the reduction of crime at the locations where the murals have been painted, but also through community beautification.
Successful murals have been completed in partnership with the Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police, Peel Regional Police, Thunder Bay Police Service, Barrie Police Service, and Ottawa Police Service.
