Various scenes from Winnipeg, Manitoba

I attended the Canadian Society for Immunology conference in Winnipeg Manitoba. I learned a lot about vaccination, infectious diseases, and quite a few other things, and I was invited to give a talk in Montreal, and to participate on a new grant with a professor from U Sherbrooke. And the food was fantastic too! I had a few extra days to paint, and found time around the conference schedule to get out and explore Winnipeg. 

This painting shows the incredible Museum for Human Rights, at first I was unaware of what the building was, and so painted it with the ideas of its sweeping glass and sandstone facade. It must be about 20 stories tall, and then some with the spire. Sandstone was a common theme, many buildings in Winnipeg are made from a yellow ochre, raw sienna brick and stone... a toasty yellow colour. They also spread sand in the winter of the same tone, which further created a yellowish tint on many scenes.  

Canadian Museum for Human Rights, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026

Just off of Main street on Pacific avenue there is an interesting building with a two-tone blue facade and red detailing. Looking it up on google maps, its a marshal arts club, and used to have a restaurant on the bottom floor. There was a bit of graffiti on the side wall. Wandering up to the north part of Winnipeg gave a much different vibe than the downtown core where the hotel and convention center were located. There were many people out and about here, socializing and seeming to have fun, or a little too much fun maybe. The city has a lot of social services around here too, like medical, food, help centers. 

Ching Wu Athletic Association, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

Another old industrial building turned condo, this is the Telegram building on Albert street. Now its a collection of fancy shops and what appears to be loft condos. Winnipeg still has quite a few old industrial buildings that seemed to be functional, they also had many large parking lots and open spaces. I got the impression Montreal used to be like this, but now there are hardly any parking lots left, and the old industrial buildings have been converted to condos. 

Telegram building, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

The Dominion News building on Portage avenue is no longer a news building, it seemed to be converted into various shops. The architecture includes a green copper dome, ornate stone work, and Roman pillars make for a striking corner. Instead of realism I went for expressionism here, the paint was flowing and the lines were dancing. I have to admit, I painted fast at night in Winnipeg, unsure of the safety levels here, although nothing untoward happened. 

Dominion News building, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

More of the old industrial, this large warehouse-factory complex used to be a candy and nut manufacturer. Winnipeg obviously takes care of their heritage properties, you see them all over the city. In this case, they preserved the painted signage... Nutty Club Candy Nuts, although I simplified the design in the painting, and removed a layer, it was actually one story taller in real life. Its easily viewable on Google maps on the corner of Westbrook st. and Pioneer av. In real life, it had an amazing patina up close, paint over rust, and wood structures that looked to be well over 100 years old. I embellished the colours here to make the walls look like cotton candy. 

Nutty Club, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026 

The Forks area is a spectacular feature in Winnipeg, and likely the main reason the city exists in the first place. Long time a gathering area for indigenous people, it became a fort and trading post, then came the train and continued growth. There are many monuments all around this area (including the human rights museum), memorials for missing and murdered indigenous women, the residential school atrocities, and the interaction between colonial and indigenous people. There was also a large astrological installment, in line with Stonehenge, it is designed to spot constellations and sun/moon positions, it was called Odena celebration center. This painting shows part of the children's museum, with a small pile of snow remaining, and an iconic Winnipeg lime-green dumpster in the foreground. Virtually all the dumpsters in town were the same lime colour.  

The Forks Children's museum, watercolour 8 x 10" cold press, April 2026