Community members in Okotoks came together recently to lend their creative talents to a colourful Canada 150 legacy project.

The Canada 150 mural was unveiled at the Okotoks Art Gallery Saturday.

Culture and Heritage manager for the Town of Okotoks, Allan Boss says community members came together to add their personal touches to each tile that forms the mural.

"It was created by numerous members of our community that all painted 4-inch by 4-inch tiles. There's over 800 of them on this 8-foot by 12-foot mural," Boss says. "And the mural is a train car."

Boss adds that the Blackfoot word 'Okotoks' means rock, so it's only fitting that the mosaic train car is carrying more tiles that have all been arranged to form the big rock.

He says the final results are impressive.

"Seeing it come together is really, truly amazing," Boss says. "Because everybody paints their own little painting of whatever they want to paint. Then you put them on and you arrange them and the next thing you know you have a giant image that represents something."

The Canada 150 Mural was created by Mural Mosaic in collaboration with the Town of Okotoks and with the assistance of the Calgary Foundation.

There's even a tile created by Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson, who chose to paint an image that was meaningful to him.

"I love inukshuks so I did an inukshuk," Robertson says. "It's a symbol of Canada, in particular a symbol of the north, but in my opinion, it's uniquely Canadian and I got that idea from the staff that was organizing the overall painting."

The Canada 150 Mural will be on display at the Okotoks Art Gallery until it is eventually moved to the front lobby of the new Pason Centennial Arena expansion.

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