Michael Cavanaugh (1952 – 2025) studied at the Ontario College of Art & Design, the Banff School of Fine Arts, and held a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Degree in painting from the University of Manitoba. His paintings depict liminal spaces captured in urban margins and outskirts, looking closely at the overlooked, and transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Cavanaugh was a long-time member of Mural Routes’ board and, in 2018, was named Urban Hero in recognition of his work converting drab urban infrastructure into original art pieces.
Themes of protest, resistance and reclamation have been central to Cavanaugh’s public art.
The lead group opposing free trade was the Coalition Against Free Trade, which included the Council of Canadians. One of the group’s founding members, Marjorie Griffin Cohen, describes Cavanaugh’s “no, eh” design as “brilliant – part of a US flag, with a red maple leaf as one of the stars and ‘no, eh” on the bottom.” It was used on buttons, tee shirts, and pamphlets throughout the country. It quickly became iconic during the lead-up to the Free-Trade-Election in 1988.
Today, there is renewed interest in the logo as a statement of Canadian pride, strength, and unity in the wake of Trump’s illegal and unjustified tariffs and his insults lobed at Canada and our Prime Minister. A single maple leaf in a field of stars and stripes concisely captures Canadians’ awareness of our economic vulnerability as well as the essence of our identity: we are NOT American; we are proudly distinct, separate and sovereign. Michael’s design was his spontaneous, creative response to the free trade debate that dominated the federal election in 1988. 40 years later, it still stands up well.
www.michaelcavanaughart.com/about
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