New murals unveiled at Grandin LRT station

New murals celebrating First Nations culture were unveiled Friday at the Grandin LRT station in Edmonton.

The pieces by artists Aaron Paquette and Sylvie Nadeau update a mural painted byNadeau 25 years ago as a tribute to Vital Grandin, the first Roman Catholic bishop of St. Albert.

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The originalmural shows Grandin standing alongside a nun who is holding an aboriginal child. But that image was considered hurtful to First Nations people in Edmonton in light of the abuse and cultural assimilation that took place in church-run residential schools.

When she painted the original mural, Nadeau says she was unaware of schools' painful legacy.

Now she has added murals on either side of the original --one showing a smiling, happy aboriginal girl; the other showing the little boy as a strong young man.

Paquette's new murals use images like the white buffalo, to symbolize peace, knowledge and hope.