Murals of Welland (Welland Outdoor Mural Project)

Since the mid-1980s, Welland has commissioned artists to paint history-themed murals across the walls of its downtown, and the collection has grown to more than two dozen giant works that first-time visitors can tour on foot. Many of the paintings are enormous, stretching along entire building faces and rising several storeys, and they depict scenes such as canal construction, early shipping, and everyday life in the community that grew up around the waterway. The murals are clustered mostly in the downtown core along streets like King Street, East Main Street, and Division Street, with a handful more scattered elsewhere in the city. Because they sit on public streets and are free to view, a self-guided walking loop is the easiest way to take them in, and the City of Welland maintains an online map to help visitors find each one.