Cailey Heaps is beautifying Toronto one wall at a time.
The idea-prolific CEO of Heaps Estrin Real Estate Team came up with the city-facing mural initiative, which she says allows the team to give something lasting back to the neighbourhoods they serve while spotlighting Canadian artists.
In addition to beautifying the communities where they have had a lot of activity, she says the murals are a way to introduce themselves to new neighbourhoods.
Although the first three murals adorn Heaps Estrin properties, they will appear on a variety of other buildings as Heaps secures more walls throughout the city.
She says building owners have been receptive. Some are offering their walls for free (in return for the beautification project) while others are charging a fee.
“We rent the spaces from landlords, who have the rights to the walls,” she says. “While we don’t check with the building owner on the specific design, they approve us using the space for a mural. Our team collectively chooses the artist.”
Calls for proposals are sent out through several agencies and websites catering to mural artists.
“There has been an incredibly favourable response from talented artists,” she says.
Bringing art to life
From start to finish, the process can take three to six months. First, locations need to be identified and secured, a call for proposals is made, the installation selected, and the mural created, Heaps says.
It’s not an inexpensive endeavour. The cost depends on the size of the wall (so far the largest mural is 20×30 feet). Artist compensation can run in the five figures, she says.
Global artistic talent
The first installation of 2025 features internationally recognized artist Jacquie Comrie, whose work has been featured around the world.
“Jacquie grew up in the community and is a strong forward-looking person,” Heaps says.
Comrie is a Panamanian multimedia artist, mother and mental health advocate in Toronto.
“Personally and professionally, colour is her medicine and language of emotion. Her work is grounded in the belief that colour can be a tool for wellness, healing and emotional connection,” her bio says, adding, “with our current crisis in mental health across the globe, Jacquie seeks to reimagine public art while creating spaces of healing accessible to everyone.”
Comrie’s work joins that of Toronto artist Chris Perez, whose mural (the first in the initiative) was commissioned in 2021. Heaps had seen Perez’s work on a building on Gerrard Street and reached out.
They met and “became buddies,” she says. She gave him carte blanche to create a floral mural that reflects the Leaside community.
Perez is a Filipino abstract painting and mural artist, whose influences are derived from street art, graffiti, murals, abstract art and expressionist painting, his bio says.
The third mural is by American multi-media artist Maxine McCrann, who is based in Toronto. The mural is featured at another of Heaps’ unique marketing concepts, The Lobby, a modern home and lifestyle boutique, art gallery and intimate event space.
McCrann’s bio says, “She believes in slowing down, taking a breath and staying for dessert, striving to capture the little in between moments that make life so beautiful.”
West-end project coming
The soon-to-be-unveiled mural in the west-end Junction neighbourhood will be “more literal and tie back to the brand as the company introduces itself to a new community,” Heaps says.
It will highlight the team’s mascot HERB, a 1993 Subaru Sambar that makes appearances in community parades, local fundraising events and Heaps Estrin parties. She says HERB has become a familiar sight in the company’s communities.
Marketing expertise
Heaps, who has a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in marketing and worked in advertising before her career in real estate, doesn’t rely on conventional advertising.
One in a long list of creative marketing initiatives, the mural project will “transform blank urban walls into vibrant works of art that lifts spirits, sparks conversation and reflects the city’s diversity,” says Heaps, who has ties to the art community and an art gallery at one
of her office locations.
The president, CEO and broker of record is recognized as a thought leader, regularly sharing her insights with local and national media.
She was recently recognized by the Women of Influence+ organization, the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards and was inducted into the Royal LePage National Chairman’s Club hall of fame in 2023. She is also a supporter of many charitable organizations.
Plans are underway for more murals. Artists and anyone who wants to submit walls for consideration are asked to contact Jane McIver, director of marketing at jane@heapsestrin.com
Connie Adair is a contributing writer for REM.