People of Georgian: Alumna ditches policing for public art

What’s your story?

The Georgian community is full of unique, inspiring perspectives —and we’re sharing them as part of an ongoing series.

People of Georgian: Meet Monica Loney

I’m one of the artists who created the strawberry heart mural in downtown Barrie.

The image is a bunch of little hearts that, together, create one big image of strawberries.

A person stands outside in front of a strawberry mural on a black wall. — *Monica Loney was one of the artists who created the strawberry mural at 54 Maple Ave. in Barrie.*

The meaning behind it is one heart is just one heart, but multiple hearts make a huge masterpiece; one small action repeated several times can make a big difference.

Strawberries are also the first fruit of summer, representing opportunity and possibilities.

The response to the mural from the public was overwhelmingly positive.

It all started with that one mural and then another one popped up and then another one, and now all this public art is totally changing the vibes of downtown Barrie and beautifying the space.

My work with the strawberry mural led me to really want to advocate for public art.

So now, I’m doing tours downtown and teaching summer camps at the MacLaren Art Centre that are all public art focused. My students, for example, get to create their own murals.

A person stands outside in front of a row of stores with colourful art in the shape of anatomical hearts.

A black wall with white art of people connected by vines and flowers.

An around-the-world journey to public art

Getting to this point in my career has been a great journey, and it all started with me realizing that taking the safe route wasn’t fulfilling.

I actually studied Police Foundations and then Human Resources Management at Georgian. I’ve always been intrigued by policing and helping people at the frontlines, but at the end of the day, shift and office work were not for me.

I moved to Vancouver and worked at a holistic nutrition college and used all the administrative skills I had learned. I was in an office, but I was frontline with the students.

They would tell me about their own journeys and how they were taking a different path in modern medicine. Their passion was inspiring. I was like, ‘Man, I have so many things I want to do but I took the safe route.’
So, I sold everything I had and went travelling for a year around Australia and Spain. I embraced the fear and just went for it.

That really got me back to art and travel and people, and it got me thinking about how I can help people by doing something I’m passionate about.

I started honing in on my art and finding my own practice. I was really drawn to line work because it felt meditative. My pieces really resonated with people, and I got the courage to start telling them, “I am an artist.”

One thing led to another and I moved back to Barrie and found my community.

A person stands outside next to a small building with colourful artwork on it.

Making a ‘big difference’ through public art

I really love interacting with people through public art. Their reactions bring me joy while they watch me work.

Art is so important to evoke emotion and bring people together. It’s a form of expression, and I think we all need to have exposure to it, especially to ignite social change.

Public art is also accessible. It can be seen anywhere by anyone.

Although I didn’t end up in policing, I feel like I’m still making a big difference – maybe even more so because art means so much to me.

Monica Loney, an alumna of two Georgian programs: Police Foundations (class of 2012) at the Orillia Campus and Human Resources Management (class of 2014) at the Barrie Campus.