Victor Fraser does artwork around the world for communities impacted by trauma.
April 27-28 he was in Humboldt working on a new piece on the sidewalk of city hall.
While Fraser is from Toronto, his mother grew up in Melfort and he spent a couple summers in Saskatchewan.
Not only is his work paying tribute to the “humble town of Humboldt,” it is also to pay tribute to his mother and his small piece of Saskatchewan heritage.
“What I do and how I use my art as a weapon of mass seduction and a way of healing, it was very important for me to come out here and show love to the people of this lovely town.”
The healing is not over and Humboldt still has a long way to go but it was important to put out works of love and compassion, says Fraser.
Through consultation with the City of Humboldt and Mayor Rob Muench, he was given a couple of options but Fraser chose the words, “Humboldt Strong” in green and gold to adorn the city hall sidewalk.
“It really sums it up. People are having to be strong in Humboldt right now and it’s not going away.”
He was out on April 27 doing the chalk outline of his piece while the actually painting took him several hours on April 28.
These words will stand for at least three years with Fraser returning to maintain his work until spring of 2020.
“It’s about having this here for the people of Humboldt to see that there is love coming in from all angles. It’s not just a one time thing, it’s not just something that’s going away.”
The people of Humboldt are not alone, says Fraser. Just because it did not happen to him directly does not mean that he, and people from around the country and the world, were not impacted by the Humboldt Broncos bus accident.
From Toronto to Humboldt, Fraser wants to provide Humboldt with strength from one city to another as Humboldt continues to heal.
After completing the Humboldt tribute, Fraser was on his way back to his home city to create another mural of healing, this time at the corner of Yonge and Sheppard to paint love largely in four different language; Korean, Iranian, French, and English.
If his boss, Mother Nature, cooperates, Fraser can have that mural completed in around a week and a half.
Soon after the van crash that killed 10 people and injured 16 on Yonge Street in Toronto, Fraser went down to Toronto City Hall and painted the words love and Toronto Strong.
People should feel free to walk on Fraser’s work.
It is tough Canadian art, he says.
