Celebration of life: Cupcake mural reaches inevitable end

Don't cry because it's over, smile because art happened, say organizers behind the soon-to-be-destroyed Cupcake mural project on 124 Street.

"There is a quite a lot of developmental shift that happens in Alberta, especially in Edmonton, and even though we hate to see the murals go, (demolition) is just part of the reality of painting murals," said Marcus Coldeway, who commissioned the work at 10507 124 Street NW in 2024 in his role as creative director and curator of the Edmonton Mural Festival. "The great thing about the 124 Street project is the developer didn't really get involved in the creative process at all. They were just happy to have us go have fun and really do something cool. And often when that happens, when you don't do art by committee, and you just let the artist go, you get a lot more creativity. You get something that's a lot more vibrant than normal."

Casia Developments provided 90% of the $12,000 project budget in 2024, with the 124 Street and Area Business Association providing the rest, Coldeway said. Andréa Schmidt, SOWL, BEKAY, and Christina Jackson of Salt Spring Island each contributed work that year, while Coldeway and Peter Gegolick served as curators and site managers. It's called Cupcake because "the stucco finish feels like frosting," says the festival's mural map.

All parties knew the property, a six-unit apartment building that was last occupied by tenants in 2019, would be demolished eventually, Myron Borys of Casia Developments told Taproot. He said the City of Edmonton declared the building derelict, meaning its annual property taxes had jumped from around $7,000 to $21,000 per year by the time the mural was commissioned in 2024. Casia has received a demolition permit and expects to knock the building down in the next few weeks. After that, Casia plans to build multi-unit housing on that site and the surrounding property, but when and how much are to be determined, Borys said. (One option is to build two 25-storey towers.)

Why bother beautifying a building when it has received a fatal prognosis? Coldeway argues that the making of a thing is a reward in itself, regardless of what happens later, and Schmidt agrees.

"When an opportunity comes up, most of us all just want to jump on it, especially if you're a newer, emerging mural artist," Schmidt told Taproot. "The thing that was most appealing was working collaboratively with the other three artists because generally, when you're working on a mural, it's just yourself. Maybe you've hired a friend, another artist to help out, but to work with … six artists all together, that was the most appealing part."

Both Schmidt and Coldeway describe the Cupcake process as an "art jam" where creativity flew freely. But the art gratified more than just its makers. "We would see people walk by and just scream out of their car windows, and the BIA has definitely gotten a lot of attention because of it," Coldeway said.

The art jam feeling returned in 2025, when Schmidt served as a guest curator and artist mentor for additions to the Cupcake site. Artists Brnesh Berhe, Ambrose Cardinal, Cry Wolf, Cecelia Leddy of Canmore, and Cam Hoff of Calgary all added works to the property that year.

"A lot of mural artists haven't had the opportunity to paint on an outdoor wall," Schmidt said. "So dealing with the texture of the wall — which is like a smothered icing along the sides and quite textured — it's dealing with that, dealing with weather, and coming prepared … We also wanted the artists to have freedom to honestly just get out there and have an art jam."

Casia and a private donor provided $3,500 for the 2025 additions, Coldeway said. He added that the smaller budget provided an incentive to hire emerging artists for the work, as contracting an internationally renowned muralist was out of the question at that price.

"Painting a large-scale mural is actually a lot more work than a lot of people realize, so that firsthand experience is so helpful, and honestly, can be very eye-opening," Coldeway said. "We brought in six artists — two curators and four emerging artists — and we were able to create what I think is a great public art piece."

Though demolition was a foregone conclusion, Schmidt can't help but feel a tinge of grief for the work.

"It's definitely sad," Schmidt said. "As an artist, you put all this work in, and you hope it lasts forever. With murals, you know that there's going to be the elements that they have to contend with, so there's always going to be some wear and tear, or maybe some tagging. It's just part of muraling, but you definitely hope it lasts longer."

Both Coldeway and Borys say their feeling at the end of the project is hope — if they could pull off a project like this on a derelict project, why couldn't someone else?

"Hopefully, it allowed some people to see what can be done," Borys said. "I think there's lots of opportunity to do public art like that and beautify the city, so hopefully we'll see more of it."

We will indeed see more mural art soon, Coldeway said. The mural festival is back in August and September, with artist applications open now. The festival also has a call for walls to paint in the 124 Street area, downtown, Old Strathcona, and the French Quarter. Coldeway teased that negotiations for a derelict building along Whyte Avenue are underway now, which could be a spiritual successor to Cupcake.

Further, he said the festival has secured a new funder for downtown work, though he would not say who it is or how much money they have committed.