Daisy Sweeney mural 'captures her spirit,' says daughter at unveiling

The first time Judith Sweeney saw the completed mural of her mother, the late Daisy Sweeney, while she was driving home from work after her night shift, her heart stopped.

"I had to pull over to the side of the road and compose myself," she said. "It capturesher spirit, her kindness, her generosity, so I was very, very pleased."

The mural, painted by Montreal portraitist KevinLedo, was unveiledon St-Jacques Street in the Southwest borough Tuesday afternoon.Ledois the artist whose nine-storeymural of Leonard Cohenon Napoleon Street looks outover Cohen's old stomping ground on the Main.

Daisy Peterson Sweeney died in August 2017, at 97. She was renowned for having taught countless children in Little Burgundy to play the piano.

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Daisy's brother, Oscar Peterson, and Oliver Jones jazz greats whose murals already grace the sides of buildings in Little Burgundy were Sweeney's students.

"Oscar and I may have gotten all the awards and that, but she was the one that really deserved it," said Jones, who was at Tuesday'sunveiling. "So I'm very, very happy that she's being admired and honoured now."

Many of Sweeney's other pupils went on to pursue music careers. Sweeneyalso co-founded the Montreal Black Community Youth Choir, which later became the internationally celebrated Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir.

'The artist is telling her story for her'

But Sweeney did more than teach music, her daughter says. She created and helped uphold a community in Little Burgundy, where she lived and taught.

"[The kids] always felt they could talk to her, and she always seemed to find the right words to help anybody," Judith Sweeney said.

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The mural features a portrait of Daisy Sweeneytaken by photographerTeddChurch for the Montreal Gazette in the1980s. In it, a smiling Sweeney is leaning over the keys of a piano, sheet music in front of her.

"It reminds me of that look: 'Have you practised? Are you having fun?'" another daughter, Sylvia Sweeney, said.

"Everyone has a different story about Daisy, every single person, and she never hada story about herself. So I think the artist is telling her story for her."

Ledosaid the mural took him about five 10- to 12-hour days to complete. He came up with the concept after choosing the photo with the help of Sweeney's family.

"I just thought it was really playful. It was inviting and I just thought it told the best story," he said.

Sylvia Sweeney recalled how her mother went from doing domestic work, to studying music atMcGillUniversity in the1940s, to paving the way for the children she taught to gotoMcGillthemselves.

Sylvia Sweeney received her own scholarship to study music at the university when she was 16.

"I felt at home," she said."It was because of the path that she walked."

With files from CBCreporter Elias Abboud