Il faut bien rêver

The work Il faut bien rêver was produced for the SDC Centre-ville de Rouyn-Noranda.

artists designers : Ariane Ouellet and Valéry Hamelin

Medium : Acrylic paint 

Dimensions : 62 feet x 18 feet

Year : 2019

This mural is the first step in the 'I enhance my downtown!' movement launched by the SDC in May 2019.

The idea behind this work was not only to enhance the downtown area, but also to involve the community in an artistic project. Under the theme of dreams, this activity allowed the young and old alike to participate in the creation of a collective mural. Accompanied by our two artists, more than 50 people, aged between 2 and 75, participated in the creation of this colorful work.

'Children have a wonderful ability to let their imagination run wild. It is in this treasure of childhood that the most audacious and improbable creations are born. To do great things, you must first be able to imagine them. The people of Rouyn-Noranda have always understood this, as they have in their DNA the ability to transform their dreams into reality.

- Ariane Ouellet 

Ariane Ouellet is a professional visual artist. After college studies in photography at Cégep du Vieux-Montréal and Concordia University, she completed a multidisciplinary bachelor's degree in visual arts at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

While continuing to work as a studio artist and exhibiting regularly in exhibition centers in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, then at the Rock Lamothe art contemporain Gallery, she began in 2015 to develop an expertise in mural art. In 2020, in addition to sharing her knowledge as a trainer, mentor or cultural mediator through the Artist in the School program, she devotes most of her time to mural projects throughout the region. Among her outstanding achievements, she was the project manager and master builder of the mural tribute to Richard Desjardins Des territoires coulés dans nos veines, co-created in 2018 in an underpass in Rouyn-Noranda. 

This mural received the Prix Culture et développement 2019 from the Réseau Les Arts et La Ville, and was selected for the Public Art Review of the Creative City Network of Canada in October of the same year.

Website : arianeouellet.ca

Valéry Hamelin is a multidisciplinary artist holding a diploma in scenography and a certificate in painting. She is native to Rouyn-Noranda and has always lived there. In her artistic practice, she combines both drawing, painting, and installation. She also practices scenography and designs decoration and costumes for all sorts of plays, and this, by getting involved in several festivals.

Her artistic approach combines research in relation to memory, exploration of the crossing point between childhood and adulthood, while associating it with memories, organic elements, and delicate motifs. Her poetic approach transports the eye to a wandering of the mind.