The next wave of Sussex’s mural program will bring five new “phenomenal artists,” says the town’s community services director.
At its April meeting, the former council approved artist agreements and payments for five artists recommended by the public art committee, a partnership with AX: The Arts and Culture Centre of Sussex.
A jury of artists narrowed a field of 213 applicants from around the world down to five selections, community services director Jill Wood told Brunswick News, up from almost 100 applicants last year.
“We were extremely excited and very happy,” Wood said earlier this month. “I think we’ve got some phenomenal artists coming.”
The artists include John McPartland at 635 Main Street, Shane Drever at 4 Needle Street, Megan Oldhues at 551 Main Street, Fabiola Martinez at 1149 Main Street and Matthew Dayler at 620 Main Street.
Wood said the committee narrowed it down to a short list of two per murals location, with artists then paid to generate a site design pitch for the jury, made of artists appointed by the committee.
The jury wanted to focus on Canadian artists, Wood said, adding that three of the five are local or have local connections, with the other two being Ontario-based.
“It’s really nice when you can give opportunities to local artists and Canadian artists,” she said. “We are very happy with these designs.”
Sussex established a public art committee in 2024 to refresh the town’s inventory of murals, most painted from 2006 to 2007. The first two murals came that year, and Jill Wood said an initial plan to put up 14 murals last year was split up into two years after the project got moving in July.
She said they lost a few locations in the process, and but are looking for 11 new designs by June. She said two of last year’s murals are now finished, with artists working on the remainder in the coming months.
This year’s budget for public art totals $60,000, with individual payments ranging from $6,500 to $11,500 per artist.
Wood said reaction has been “mixed,” saying the community has a “deep love” for the existing murals, some of which were removed as part of the renewal program.
“What I’m really hoping that as this process continues, when we go in another five or seven years to update our art again, people will go, you can’t remove that one, it’s my new favourite,” she said.
Whereas the original set of murals from the 2000s was based on historical Sussex themes, Wood said the current run is based on “art for art’s sake.” She highlighted a jackalope mural by Montreal-based, Mexican-born artist Ruben Carrasco at 1 Queen Street titled The Substance That Unites Us.
“The whole intent is really to have people talking, and I think that’s really cool,” Wood said.
At its last meeting earlier this month, the former council also approved event permits for a series of outdoor concerts at Leonard’s Gate on Main Street called the Gate Outdoors, as well as an open mic series hosted by Sussex Ale Works at the location.
Wood said that they are excited for the Gate Outdoors series, calling the public space an “underutilized gem” in our community.
“It’s downtown, it’s prime location, it’s covered, it’s the perfect venue for an outdoor music series,” she said. “We were like, what can we do with partners to try and drum up business in our downtown and events for people?”
The series includes a local and New Brunswick favourites, she said, including Daniel McFadden July 11, Vinyl Tap on July 25, The Mix on Aug. 8, Southern Comfort Aug. 22 and Sidekick on Sept. 12.
By Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on May 28, 2026 at 11:14
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