All in Ontario's Southwest
On October 9th, 2026, festivities in Port Stanley will mark the October 1840 arrival of the Oneida people at Little Beach. The event is scheduled for 11am to 6pm at Little Beach and will include Oneida storytelling, cultural teachings, historical displays, food, arts and craft vendors, activities for families, and more. All are welcome to attend the event presented by the Oneida Nation of the Thames in partnership with the Port Stanley Village Association. The Port Stanley Business Improvement Area (BIA) is very pleased to help support the painting of a new mural to commemorate the Oneida Arrival Day. Celebrated artist Mike Cywink has been engaged to develop the design and paint the piece, and he will facilitate a series of workshops with local Oneida youth, including students from Standing Stone and various secondary schools in the Thames Valley District School Board.
Over the past six years, our team at Andrew Gunn Consulting and young & free press has worked in collaboration with the Thames Valley District School Board and STEAM Centre to connect students directly to local community-building projects. Now, we are thrilled to begin introducing our Students Build Cities projects for 2026-27!
Our team at Andrew Gunn Consulting / young & free press is working in collaboration with the Port Stanley BIA to add new artwork in the village. Port Stanley is one of the great tourism destinations in Ontario and has a lovely, walkable core and vibrant harbour. The project – titled ‘Making Waves’ – will run through 2026 and 2027.
Our team at young & free press is thrilled to announce that artist Ola Volo will be coming to downtown St. Thomas in September 2026 to paint an incredible new mural in Hepburn Park! The artwork will revolve around the theme of the rejuvenation of city spaces.
Fanshawe College Corporate Training Solutions has developed a new Urban Arts micro-credential program to equip emerging artists with the skills, experience and industry knowledge needed to participate in the growing field of outdoor art. The program, developed in collaboration with St. Thomas-based Andrew Gunn Consulting and young & free press, will launch at the College’s St. Thomas/Elgin Regional Campus in September 2026.
Our team is very excited to be launching a new mural project in collaboration with the Downtown Woodstock BIA! In our visits to the city over the years, we have noticed the lovely Museum Square downtown, which serves as a great foundation to build a walkable, intriguing core. Adding murals will help to make every trip to the area more fascinating for both residents and visitors. Throughout 2026 and 2027, we will be coordinating locations, assembling support, and working with artists to design new landmark pieces for the area.
With the exciting growth in mural art in St. Thomas in recent years, there is substantial interest from emerging artists and students in this globally significant art-form. Throughout 2026, our team at Andrew Gunn Consulting and young & free press will be introducing a series of new initiatives designed to support and expand opportunities for artists in the community.
Our team is absolutely thrilled to be launching a new mural project in collaboration with the Downtown Strathroy BIA! Located just west of London, Strathroy has a lovely, walkable core area with perfect opportunities for spectacular outdoor artwork.
Over the past five years, our team at ‘young & free press’ has focussed on coordinating the installation of large-scale murals around southwestern Ontario. After the murals are painted, often we are asked for ‘before & after’ photos, as viewers are curious about how this kind of artwork helps to transform urban spaces.
Our team at young & free press is thrilled to help announce a new donation of $15,000 to the Elgin County Railway Museum to introduce cycling tours to St. Thomas! With the funds, staff members will purchase a fleet of new bikes, including two e-bikes, and coordinate guided tours that feature the rolling stock gallery at the Museum, the collection of large-scale murals in the city, and the St. Thomas Elevated Park.
Our team at young & free press is thrilled to help introduce a spectacular new mural by artist Meaghan Claire Kehoe inside the London International Airport. Both the origins of the image and the purpose of the artwork are significant.
Beginning in summer 2023, the team at the STEAM Centre in St. Thomas will coordinate a new engagement project that will invite community members and visitors to produce artwork outdoors! Imagine painting at the St. Thomas Elevated Park, or in the new Westlake-Evans Civic Park downtown, or at other beautiful locations around the city … this is the goal for summer 2023 in St. Thomas! Our team at young & free press coordinated a contribution of $7500 to help make this program happen.
On November 8, 1946, Viola Desmond went to a movie at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. She sat on the main floor – the whites-only section – unaware that she had purchased a ticket for the balcony, where Black audience members were expected to sit. Although she offered to pay the extra cost for a seat on the main floor, she was removed from the theatre, held in jail & charged. This incident of racial discrimination helped to ignite the civil rights movement in Canada. More than seven decades later, in November 2018, the new ten-dollar bill design featuring Desmond went into circulation across Canada, acknowledging the Halifax-based business owner who altered the social history of the country.
Encounters @ 365 Talbot is an interactive art installation by Maddie King and Andrew Gunn in downtown St. Thomas. In August 2022, eighteen vintage mirrors were placed in the walkway at 365 Talbot Street, each one drawn from a different city or town in southern Ontario. The mirrors complement the stunning mural on-site by artist Stephanie Boutari. This is a managed installation, and the depth of the piece is meant to be revealed gradually.
With increasing numbers of newcomers moving into the London, St. Thomas & Elgin County area – and lots of tourists visiting, too – there is the opportunity to consider how to make everyone feel welcome as quickly as possible. The STEAM Centre and Catfish Creek Conservation Authority have taken an interesting approach by introducing multilingual signs on local hiking trails.
Hey London! There are lots of reasons to check out the new play Grand Ghosts running until November 5th at the Grand Theatre on Richmond Street. Members of our team at young & free attended the play on opening night, October 21st. Afterwards, we came up with our top five reasons to attend the show.
The Track to the Future Mural Festival made July 2022 a remarkable month in St. Thomas. Artists transformed spaces around the city with large-scale murals, and residents & visitors walked, cycled & skateboarded on local streets & trails to check out the artwork. St. Thomas is becoming a genuine street art capital!
Recently our friends at the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce asked us to share our thoughts on how to build a workplace that will appeal to members of Generation Z. We work continuously, and rarely take the time to reflect on what has made our approach effective; further, we have never attempted to communicate what lessons could be gleaned from our experience to assist other businesses. Maddie and Andrew collaborated on the article below, blending our voices to share some insights. The tips for employers have been drawn from our team and conversations with young people locally.
The Track to the Future mural project continues in St. Thomas with the addition of a remarkable new mural by Nancy Deleary, who is an accomplished artist and also a Cultural Coordinator at Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. Completed this month at the St. Thomas Public Library, the artwork highlights the importance of storytelling, and will captivate the next generation of children who gather to read books and listen to speakers in the outdoor reading garden.
The Downtown Simcoe BIA and the team at young & free press are excited to share this call for artists to paint picnic tables to be placed on the beautiful grounds of the Norfolk Arts Centre! Located at 21 Lynnwood Avenue in Simcoe, the Norfolk Arts Centre offers a lovely urban green-space adjacent to the downtown core.
