Charlotte Durnford-Dionne wins Arts Help True Original Design Competition

OCAD U student, Charlotte Durnford-Dionne, with winning entry.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018 - 3:00pm

To celebrate Mickey’s 90th anniversary, Disney Canada partnered with OUTFRONT Media Inc. to hold a “TRUE ORIGINAL” design competition open to OCAD U students. Charlotte Durnford-Dionne, OCAD U student and Montreal artist, won the competition with her six foot Mickey Mouse sculpture. The event was curated by Arts Help, a registered not-for-profit and the largest creative community for artists and visual storytellers.

Charlotte brought the iconic character to life using more than 10,000 yards of repurposed yarn composed of many different materials, textures and styles. Her technique, called guerrilla knitting, applies knitted and crocheted material to the blank canvas of a life-sized fiberglass Mickey. The unique work is designed to be 'huggable,' unlike traditional sculptures, to remind anyone regardless of age that the comforting embrace of a childhood friend will always be there. With this work, Charlotte evokes the positive values of sustainability and upcycling by creatively finding ways to repurpose the used materials in a unique way.

Mickey Mouse: The True Original Design Competition provides original artists an opportunity to collaborate and bring to life a Mickey Mouse statue of their own. The winner of the competition wins a chance to have their design exhibited across Canada, along with a trip to the True Original Exhibit in New York City.