From across the Great Hall at Toronto’s Union Station, you see a soldier. Walk a little closer, and you see 4,784 reasons to remember him. To mark the Royal Canadian Legion’s 100th anniversary, VML Canada asked Canadians to put pen to paper and share their memories and messages of gratitude for veterans.
Those handwritten sticky notes became a 30-foot portrait in “Don’t Forget to Remember,” a campaign that asks what happens to the stories of those who served when the people who remember them firsthand are gone.
The portrait depicts Lance Corporal Allan “Scotty” Davidson, a Canadian hockey player who left a promising career to serve in the First World War. He was killed at 24. His likeness stands in for more than 120,000 Canadians who died in service to their country. Union Station, a historic departure point for soldiers heading to war, gives the tribute particular weight. Today, people passing through on their way somewhere else have a reason to stop.
What makes the work land is what happens when you get close. The face gives way to individual handwriting, and the scale that caught your eye gives you a reason to linger over a single note. It’s a smart use of a familiar object. We stick reminders on our desks and refrigerators so we remember to do the little things. Here, thousands of those reminders ask us to do something bigger. Watch below:
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“Sticky notes are humble little reminders that help us make sure we don’t forget,” said Graham Lang, chief creative officer of VML Canada. “We’ve given them a new purpose by bringing thousands of personal, handwritten messages of remembrance together to create a single portrait of a remarkable Canadian.”
For the Legion, the messages themselves are as important as the image they form. “Remembrance is about honouring those who have given their lives in service to Canada,” said Nujma Bond, the Legion’s national spokesperson. “This symbolic mural is full of meaningful messages from those who expressed their personal memories and words of gratitude for our Veterans’ sacrifice.”
The Remembrance Mural is on view through November 13 in the Great Hall at Toronto’s Union Station. To learn more about the campaign or donate in support of veterans and their families, visit here.
