When you approach the front of the Fine Arts building at Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus, the first thing you notice is a vibrant burst of colour wrapping the exterior balcony.

The colours are part of an art installation titled caribou coat continuum, which was created by visual artist and Grenfell alumna Melissa Tremblett (B.Sc.’11, BFA’15) during her 2023 residency with the Grenfell Art Gallery. The mural was launched on Nov. 1, 2024.

She says traditional Innu caribou coats inspired her. The mural incorporates continuous flowing patterns that wrap around the balcony similar to how decorative motifs historically wrapped around the sleeves, hems and tails of the coats.

Tremblett says she was honoured that her work was the inaugural installation on the building where she earned her fine arts degree.

“The installation was both personally and professionally significant: wrapping around three sides of the balcony like a coat wraps around a person, caribou coat continuum envelopes the face of the Fine Arts Building in an incredibly important Innu art form, rendered non-vital through colonial influences and interventions,” she said. “It has been so meaningful to me to engage with motifs as a way of reclaiming this knowledge and institutional space, and introducing the designs to Grenfell Campus visitors, students, staff and faculty.”

Public art across Memorial’s campuses

The mural has become more than a visual intervention.

It represents the success of a graduate whose artistic practice now spans installation, performance, photography, beadwork and other mediums, and whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Jane Walker, director of the Grenfell Art Gallery, says hosting Tremblett’s work on the face of the Fine Arts Building has been a meaningful first installation.

Ms. Walker graduated from the Visual Arts Program with Tremblett in 2015 and says in the year since the mural was created, her career has continued to flourish.

Tremblett earned a place on the 2026 Sobey Art Award Longlist (Circumpolar), received Artist of the Year at the 2025 ArtsNL Awards and was recognized with the 2026 Milestone Award from VANL-CARFAC’s EVA Awards.

“Melissa also created an iconic new installation for the 2025 Bonavista Biennale, dreaming of caribou, which continues her exploration of caribou coat motifs,” said Ms. Walker. “Establishing renewable public art spaces across the university, such as the Fine Arts balcony and the new mural installation at the Pye Centre at Labrador Campus by artist Glenn Gear and titled TakKik rising, demonstrates Memorial University’s commitment, not only to future commissions for visual artists, but also to our wider communities — presenting site-specific public art that is responsive to the place and lands where we operate.”

But the story of the balcony extends beyond its exterior.

Inside, the balcony features a multimedia public art installation.

A collaboration between visual artist and master of fine arts graduate Erienne Rennick, poet Douglas Walbourne-Gough and singer-composer Deantha Edmunds, the installation was made specifically for the space.

It features Mr. Walbourne-Gough’s poem, Herd, alongside Returning, a musical composition by Ms. Edmunds, integrated into a visual presentation created by Ms. Rennick.

Together, the works invite visitors to reflect on place, meaning, community and belonging as part of the Somewhere? series.

Dr. Peter Ride, dean of the School of Fine Arts, says the school has worked with many Indigenous artists and creators, both in the gallery and across the campus, but has always wanted its work towards indigenization to be visible on the school as public artwork.

“By being in such a prominent place, we hope it connects with Indigenous students and the Indigenous community on campus, while at the same time reaching visually beyond the campus to the wider city,” he said.

Next generation invited to create

The exterior and interior installation pairing has created something unique at Grenfell Campus: a public-facing gallery that celebrates artistic expression across disciplines while showcasing the accomplishments of graduates.

One side of the balcony tells a story through pattern and colour; the other through words, sound and shared experience.

The initiative also reflects a commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for artists beyond the classroom.

By showcasing alumni artwork at a well-known Grenfell Campus building, it has become both a destination and a platform, connecting current students with examples of creative careers and community-engaged art practice.

Now, Grenfell Art Gallery is inviting the next generation of alumni artists to leave their mark.

The gallery is currently seeking expressions of interest from graduates of Grenfell Campus’s Visual Arts Program for new public artworks to be installed on both the exterior and interior balcony spaces from 2027–30. Artists may propose projects for either location or develop connected works that span both areas.

The call reinforces the balcony’s role as a dedicated space for alumni creative output and professional artistic opportunities.

As caribou coat continuum continues to brighten the Fine Arts Building and the interior installation continues to animate the space through art, poetry and music, the balcony stands as a reminder that creative communities are built over time. Through the work of alumni artists, what was once simply a balcony has become a visible expression of Grenfell Campus’s enduring artistic legacy and an invitation for future graduates to contribute their own stories to the view.

Want to learn more about the balcony installation opportunity? Submit your expression of interest by visiting the Grenfell Art Gallery website!