Three Tuscan beauties carrying a bounty of harvested grapes, olive oil, and wheat are featured on a new mosaic unveiled at the Italian Centre on July 6.
 
The design is inspired by a mural hung 50 years ago by Teresa Spinelli’s father Franco in his campaign to lift a Provincial ban on homemade wine. The words on the wall, “You can make wine, but cannot keep it,” refer to a Prohibition-era ban on storing alcohol. Thanks to his efforts, homebrewing has been legal since 1964.
 
The mural was the idea of artist Theodora Harasymiw. The 63 ft. square mosaic took two months to make out of twelve thousand “tesserae,” tiny tiles made of glass and porcelain, peppered with gold. Erin Pankratz-Smith (the artist behind Edmonton International Airport’s mosaic) also worked on the project. Each small tile was hand cut and mortared onto a fibreglass mesh to create colour combinations and textures. The finished whole was cut into sections for transportation and mounting.

A contest to name the mosaic was also held in July. “Under the Spinelli Sun,” suggested by Sandra Hutt, received the most votes. Hutt won a basket with all of the items the women in the mosaic have and a gift certificate to the Italian Centre.

Information provided by Marina Michaelides and Teresa Spinelli.