A Windsor artist gets to work this weekend on the latest mural in the city, a tribute to first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
David Derkatz, who is known in the art community as "Derkz", said the full-sized mural will go up the side of the Penalty Box building, the popular restaurant at the corner of Walker Road and Tecumseh Road East.
The location is right around the corner from Windsor Regional Hospital.
"It's going to be one of Canada's largest COVID murals," explained Derkz. "It's going to depict a local nurse on the front lines doing COVID relief, and also a doctor."
Derkz is perhaps best known for his portraiture, and he used two local healthcare professionals as models, nurse Jamie Osborn and local Doctor Eli Malus.
Chances are you are already well acquainted with Derkz' work.
(Photo courtesy of David "Derks" Derkatz)
"I have a lot of large murals in the Ford City area, some downtown near [Windsor bar] Phog, through the WIFF alley -- a few in South Windsor," he rhymed off in an interview on Country Mornings with Morgan. "Scattered throughout the city."
For Derkz, the mission is personal.
"I have a family of nurses and doctors," he said. "So, my mom has worked in the ICU at Met for like, 30 years. My sister is in the States on the front lines -- in Ann Arbor. I just wanted a memorial piece for all the front line workers."
The project is a partnership with the Penalty Box, which has supplied, not only the canvass but the supplies. Derkz also plans to release to the public prints of the finished product. Sold through the Penalty Box, he plans to donate a large portion of the proceeds to a COVID-relief charity.