CanJam 2025 promises more.
Organizers Sarah Steele and Shannon Young shared that there will be more artists and more murals for this year's event.
"Last year, we had nine artists doing eight murals; this year, we have 15 artists doing 12 murals," they said. "They seem to want to come [to Chatham], especially because we have such naked walls. They're like, 'there's so much surface area to play with.'"
Artists will be coming from all over the place, from Australia to Quebec to Toronto to Detroit. This year, there will be more local talent taking part.
"We have added more locals to the roster. We listened to our audience," they said. "Last year, it was suggested that we invite a few locals, and we understand that there's not a lot of local large-scale mural artists. So, what we did was, sort of, reach out to the few brave artists that we knew that had enough guts to take what we usually do on paper, or small walls, and see if we can't blow it up."
Young added that the community aspect is very important to the festival.
The artists will arrive on Sunday and Monday, with work beginning on Monday.
Young and Steele explained that more murals means the artwork will expand further from downtown.
"We've expanded our breadth a little bit east and a little bit north and south, but still all in the downtown core," they said. "[Still] walking distance between murals."
There's no theme for the artists' murals; both women said that part of the fun of CanJam is allowing the painters to be creative.
"We really like to let them run wild," they shared. "It gives them an opportunity to play, because typically when you're working large scale, you're doing commercial work. You're doing commissioned work, being told to do this, this, this, and this."
The women said that last year's artists all used a lot of purple in their murals, but it was a coincidence; it wasn't by design.
"It's incredible how much they all complement each other," they said. "It seems to be happening again this year."
CanJam 2025 will start with a free kick-off barbecue on Sunday. It will take place in the parking lot at 172 King Street West, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Maps of the artwork will be handed out on Sunday.
The murals are expected to be complete a week after the kick-off barbeque on Sunday, August 17.