Meet the Co-Creator of Montreal's Leonard Cohen Mural

Join Gene Pendon, co-creator of Montreal’s Leonard Cohen mural, for an inside look at how the tribute came to life. He will share the creative process behind the collaboration, the story of its creation, and how the mural became a lasting symbol of the city. 

Presented by Career Advising and Professional Success, in collaboration with the Filipino Organization of Concordia University Students (FOCUS).

Presentation: “The Anatomy of a Tribute” by Gene Pendon

Gene Pendon (BFA 94) is a visual-artist, lecturer and educator - based in Montreal, and a graduate of Concordia's Painting and Drawing program. In 2017, Gene led the artistic proposal for the concept for the Leonard Cohen tribute mural located on Crescent Street in downtown Montreal, and realized it in collaboration with the American artist, El Mac from Los Angeles. 

Since then, the mural has become a cultural landmark, and promoted as a symbol of the artistic spirit of Montreal – appearing in books and films, and used in social media marketing and branding of the city. For Gene, the experience was the culmination of his activities over the previous 25 years leading up to the mural, participating in and advocating for concepts that promote the DIY cultural ethos of street-art influenced creation and production in Montreal. 

“The Anatomy of a Tribute” was first presented in a classroom setting in 2023, when Gene was a guest educator at the Champlain College of Vermont. The research for the presentation began two years prior. The aim was to chart the phenomenological circumstances of the “mural cultural artifact”, and the shift of perception of “street-influenced art” in the public domain. 

In the presentation, Gene examines the role of “performance mythologies” in contributing to the non-linear construction of meaning - those specifically associated with Gene’s experience of Montreal’s contemporary street art scene in the formative years of the late 90’s and early 2000s, and characterized by artistic identities and behaviors the pre-date contemporary marketing and branding. The research exacts a qualitative method around “symbolic” anthropological data, illustrating an “unfolding order” of meaning that both functions and exists within a perception of the “performative” experience. 

Since its creation, Gene has had the honour of sharing his research as guest presenter for Tuning Fork (March 2022) - 90 minute Youtube-live lecture and workshop for the International Institute of Cultural Activism founded by New York City documentary filmmaker John DiLeva Halpern and producer Emily Harris; as invited panelist at Global Cultural Districts Network Annual Conference 2023, Montreal; as invited panelist at the Revisiting Regions Conference 2024, hosted by the American North Eastern Studies Association at Harvard University; and as a course instructor for the 2025 Fall semester at Champlain College of Vermont, Montreal Campus.