From high school graffiti to global canvas at Shaunavon’s fire hall

Posted on August 5, 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

Shaunavon Standard

What started as a high school hobby under city bridges has transformed into a global career for Toronto-based artist Megan Oldhues.

Oldhues was in Shaunavon last week for the annual Southwest Mural Fest, where she transformed the west wall of the Gordon Speirs Fire Hall into a colourful public canvas.

For an artist whose work spans Canada, the United States, Europe, and South America, the rural Saskatchewan festival offered a welcome contrast to her usual projects.

She noted that big-city projects rarely get the enthusiastic reception she found in Shaunavon, where locals watched her progress and were both curious and excited about what the finished product would look like.

“People here treat you a bit like a local hero,” she laughed.

Oldhues got her start teaching herself to paint through graffiti in high school before transitioning into large-scale projects.

“When I was in high school I did a lot of graffiti,” she smiled. “I would go under bridges and I taught myself how to paint.”

Today, she estimates, murals make up 99 per cent of her work.

While she has lost count of how many walls she has painted, her career includes massive scenic productions for television and film sets like The Boys, Chucky, and Jack Reacher, as well as corporate commissions for Puma and Reese’s.

Despite its high visibility, the Shaunavon fire hall wall represents one of the smaller spaces Oldhues has tackled recently.

Her five-day project, which began Tuesday and concluded Saturday, depicts a relaxed summer scene featuring three friends lounging in beach chairs, a bicycle, and an antique red truck.

Her inspiration for the piece came directly from her immediate surroundings.

“In the chairs are my friends, and then the red truck is inspired by a truck I saw on a walk,” Oldhues explained. “The bike is from someone’s lawn.”

While she is now a seasoned professional, Oldhues admits the sheer permanence and scale of public art can still be intimidating.

“Every single one means the world to me,” she stated,  before adding that the thought of how many eyes will see her work over the years can still give her the “heebie-jeebies.”

Local residents certainly took notice.

Throughout the week, foot and vehicle traffic slowed near the downtown wall as community members tracked her progress.

In the end, Oldhues turned a prominent downtown wall and snapshots of everyday life into a permanent public landmark.