St. Saviour's, Vermilion Celebrates Canada 150 Mosaic Unveiling

Canada Day, traditionally celebrated in Vermilion June 30, included the official unveiling of our Canada 150 Mosaic. Between May 8 and 10, 530 young and old participants, which included 17 St Saviour’s parishioners, each painted a 4 x 4-inch tile which, when assembled, created the masterpiece.

To celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, since 2015 across our nation, including all provinces and territories, over 80,000 paintings and 150 individual murals were created. If united they would form one gigantic mural mosaic which would be over 365 meters wide (4 football fields) x 2.5 meters high (8 feet). Vermilion was one of 15 Alberta communities to participate in the project. Complete information can be found at www.canada150mosaic.com/the-project/

The mural represents a local cultural mosaic, a time capsule, a visual portrayal of history, an art masterpiece. Lakeland College’s Alumni Hall was chosen to be the central object and focal point of the mosaic. The College is a huge part of our heritage and community.

The mosaic is now prominently displayed in the Vermilion Regional Centre for all to enjoy for years to come. We at St Saviour’s are proud to have this unique experience as a parish project which is permanently etched on our individual tiles which we created together! Submitted by Jo-Ann Mones

Interesting timeline:

• 1905 Alberta became a province.
• 1906 St. Saviour's church construction began. Mr. P.G. Pilkie was the overseer and Mr. J.C.M. Keith of Victoria, B.C. the architect.
• 1908 the Vermilion Board of Trade lobbied the provincial government for a demo farm and/or agricultural college.
• 1911 the provincial government purchased land west of the Vermilion town site.
• 1913 Vermilion School of Agriculture (now Lakeland College), the first of three Alberta Agricultural Colleges, was established.