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Largest Mural In Saskatoon History To Honour Indigenous Families

The nine-storey portrait is grabbing lots of attention.
The new mural is the work of artist Emmanuel Jarus.
Shirley Perillat
The new mural is the work of artist Emmanuel Jarus.

A new mural in Saskatoon is now the city's largest ever.

It's over nine storeys tall and takes over the side of the First Nations Bank on Fourth Avenue, according to CTV News.

It depicts an Indigenous couple with a baby. The woman has a red ribbon woven through her hair to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous women, Postmedia reported.

Emmanuel Jarus, a Regina-born artist from Toronto, is still finishing up the mural's last details, but has been working on it since last Wednesday.

Jurus told CBC News the artwork's theme focuses on family. He said once completed, the mural with be rich with emotional and historical significance.

"[The family is] going to be rising out of the water and the baby is going to be in a moss bag. There are going to be a few different symbols in the end that I'll wait for the actual mural to show them and not give them away," he told the broadcaster.

He also told CTV that he wanted the Yellow Quill First Nation's struggle for water against the British to be recognized in a meaningful way.

"For [the First Nation], they really wanted to symbolize rising out of water and not letting the water bog them down, so that's one of the main symbols."

Shirley Perillat, who posed for the photo with her husband and baby, told Postmedia she was surprised by the size of the mural.

"For goodness' sake, I had no idea it would be so massive," she said.

The artwork cost $15,000 and was funded by the municipal government in collaboration with the First Nation. It's expected to be completed next week.

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