Brewer Park is a municipal park in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Rideau River at Bronson Avenue and Carleton University.
The park is very popular, attracting many different types of people. In the winter, Brewer park houses a world-class speed skating oval, two smaller-sized hockey rinks as well as Canada's largest Legal Graffiti wall under Dunbar Bridge. It is one of the most popular places for the students of Carleton University, who can study or involve themselves in many sports.
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Brewer park contains facilities for both the young and old.
Brewer Park is also home to the Annual House of Paint Hip Hop Festival (Aug. 6, 2011 - www.houseofpaint.ca). Over 200+ urban artists worldwide gather once a year to celebrate positive hiphop community with a block party stlye festival. At this event the underbelly of the Dunbar Bridge is covered with art from 75 graffiti artists from around North America.
Though not part of the park, Brewer is adjacent to the Ottawa Tennis & Lawn Bowling Club, to the Westboro Academy, and to Brewer Pool, a fairly large indoor pool.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Brewer park housed a public beach that encircled Brewer pond, a shallow pond approximately 100 meters in diameter, which drew a young crowd around the area. But pollution measurement and clarity standards in Ontario changed and enclosed beaches were not permitted, and the beach was closed permanently in 1970. The pond is still there, and the building that once housed a canteen and many storage items is now used as a locker room for many football teams who play on the neighboring field. As it is on the floodplain it is designed on stilts so the lower portion of the building can be flooded (usually each spring) without suffering damage.
The remainder of the park, tennis club and nearby low-lying residential areas are protected by a low berm/dam constructed in the 1980s.
In 2001 the city of Ottawa legalized the wall under the Dunbar Bridge at Brewer Park in Ottawa, Ontario.
The wall overlooks Carleton University and the Rideau river. Graffiti art had been painted here for years before the legalization but now is an open forum for artists to show creativity. Most works of art are not around for more than a couple weeks due to the painting being replaced.
The wall was thought to have been named by artists in the late 90s by a crew called AES, who used to listen to House of Pain while painting. In fact, despite the AES crew's frequent visits, the House of pain name was thanks to a large House of Pain mural that was painted by a reputable Ottawa area DJ and not anyone from the AES crew. After many years, it was renamed to House of Paint by the city and the House of Paint Festival was born.
The "House of Paint" graffiti jam was started in 2003 with a piece of linoleum, some music and breakers.
Now in 2010 it is host to 80-100 Graffiti artists coming from all over Canada and the USA to paint the underside of the bridge. Break dancers from across Canada, DJ's, workshops are housed at the event as well. There are also satellite nights leading up to the event that promote community building in hiphop and local arts. the event generates around 2000 spectators, and runs rain or shine as its under the large area under the bridge.
The event has stood the test of time through the recession by getting support from local government and city agencies. Other similar events around North America have gone defunct because of the lack of corporate funding.
Aside from the paint being used on the wall, the House of Paint Festival is now the most Eco-Conscious festival in the Ottawa area. There are many recycling and eco friendly initiatives to take care of waste from the event. HOP staff also have a "Clean up day" around the event space leading up to the event to do their part to keep things clean.