For nearly 25 years, Pat Calvert’s artwork has continued to spark smiles, excitement, and teachable moments for kids and families who see it along the halls and walls of Five Counties Children’s Centre in Peterborough.
From blank walls, Pat used her inspiration to create a sprawling water-themed mural that remains a beloved and enduring feature of the Centre, enchanting generations of children, families, and staff.
Pat first became connected to the Centre through her work in the early 1970s running inclusive recreation programs for children with a wide range of disabilities. Her programs, which began at places like Camp Omi-golly at Emily Provincial Park, the YMCA and St. James Church in Peterborough, before eventually moving to Five Counties, were built on the belief that all children should learn, explore, and enjoy experiences together.
“For me, it was important that we all be together,” Pat recalls, noting the joy she found in helping kids explore art, swimming, day trips, camping, movie nights, and even Saturday baking sessions.
In 2001, it was through a personal connection to Five Counties — her mother, Winnifred (Winnie), who worked at the adjacent day care that was once part of the Centre — that Pat was approached to transform a treatment room wall into something more inviting for clients and families.
Pat had never taken on a mural of this scale before, but that didn’t stop her from pouring her efforts into it. Countless hours later, what began as a simple image of a slide with a fish coming down it, grew into an entire underwater universe that now stretches across three long hallway walls, in addition to the treatment room.
“The murals just came to be — I’m not really sure how,” Pat says with a laugh. “My imagination just got carried away, and I just kept at it until it was finished.”
The mural, dedicated in 2002 and still prominently visible on the walls of Five Counties, remains near and dear to Pat. It’s evident in the dedication that Pat included in the mural to her mother Winnie, noting how she “was always there … for all of us, all of the time.”
Most prominent among the cheerful and detailed troupe of aquatic characters is Silly the Goldfish, a whimsical figure who appears “about 500 times” throughout the scenes, according to Pat. Children delight in discovering Silly playing water polo, operating an elevator, or assisting a slow-moving turtle.
Five Counties clinicians even weave the artwork into treatment sessions, encouraging children to “walk to the third fish on the wall,” or ask them to find various features or items in the mural.
As a young girl, Pat always loved doing art — and often had a paintbrush in hand. Walking the halls of Five Counties today, she is surprised that her artwork has never been painted over, something in which she takes deep satisfaction.
“I succeeded in what I wanted to do,” she says. “I just hope the kids enjoy it — seeing it, experiencing it.”
Over the years, other murals and donated artwork at Five Counties have come and gone due to shifting tastes and sensitivities. Earlier decades saw Disney-inspired canvases, colourful prints dedicated to former clients, and works by students and local artists. But Pat’s mural has endured (especially Silly the Goldfish), becoming an iconic feature of Five Counties site in Peterborough.
For those walking the Centre’s halls and viewing the walls, Pat’s mural continues to bring colour, comfort, and a sense of wonder — a testament to its artist whose creativity was inspired by children.
“It’s heaven,” says Pat, of being able to work with kids for many years. “I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”
