A new mural has recently appeared on what used to be a stark white wall in Rooster’s Coffeehouse, on the 4th floor of Carleton’s University Centre.
Ron Barrette, the manager at Rooster’s, said the idea of livening up the coffeehouse with art has been thrown around since the café’s big remodel back in 2013.
“The colours are just the white and grey. It’s very sterile and I felt with the way Rooster’s has always been we needed to add more colour to it,” Barrette said.
Originally reaching out to the student body on social media to find a student artist, Barrette said he received little to no response in almost two years’ worth of searching, and eventually decided to reach out to other local artists instead.
Fahd Alhattab, Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) president, said CUSA originally wanted the project to happen last year, but all their interested student artists fell through so the organization turned to professional artists instead.
Spray-painted by local duo Dems and Doll, the mural spans two walls in the back of the coffeehouse. It depicts a massive multi-coloured graffiti rooster created in obvious connection to the café’s namesake.
“We looked at a bunch of stuff and with [Dems and Doll] we really liked it because we wanted to go with that graffiti style, and so in the end we went with these guys,” Barrette said.
Dems and Doll, who have been working together for four years, have painted over 30 murals across Ottawa in the last two years alone, including places like Ppl Nightclub, Zaphod Beeblebrox, PLURR Nightlife, and Shopify. The mural in Rooster’s is their first-ever campus mural.
The pair spent two days during the February reading week completing the mural. “We were given free reign basically, it was fun. The staff was amazing and the students were totally into it,” Sarah Doll, the “Doll” half of the team, said.
According to Alhattab, the mural cost a little over $1,000, and Dems and Doll’s idea was picked based on both the design and price.
Alhattab said CUSA wanted a mural that would match the coffeehouse’s atmosphere.
“Rooster’s has a brand, a vibe. You know, you go in, it’s a student feel, it’s a little bit of hipster culture. It’s different. It’s not your Starbucks, or your Tim Hortons,” Alhattab said.
“It’s local. It belongs to us. It belongs to students, and we come in all shapes and colours, and we felt that some art to add to the space to really give it a little bit more life would be key.”
The Dems and Doll design was picked because it fit the “rebellious” Rooster’s vibe that CUSA was hoping for.
“I think [the mural] looks really cool. It adds a bit of an edgy vibe to the place,” Ana Staffen, a Rooster’s employee, said.
Abby Kalan, a second-year student who frequents Rooster’s, said she thinks the mural is a great addition to the space.
“It’s so different. You want to just keep looking at it and I think we really need more art like this, not only on campus, but in general,” Kalan said.
Barrette said he’s open to putting more art up around Rooster’s in the future.
“We have talked about some other things with artists, and student artists as well, about hanging art on other walls as well. I’m definitely not opposed to putting up other art,” he said.
– Photo by Angela Tilley
