The mission for Francorama is straightforward. He makes art that serves the communities and people that have shaped him into the artist and person that he is today.
The Montreal-born and raised artist, whose real name is Franco Égalité, has been making art for as long as he can remember, saying that he “held a pen and traced his line before he could even talk.” He began drawing full sketches at three years old, and from then on, he simply hasn’t stopped. By 2015, companies started commissioning his artwork and illustrations, effectively kickstarting his journey as a professional artist.
Francorma’s work spans multiple styles and mediums. He’s trained in hand-drawn animation and graphic design, completing formal programs at CEGEP de Montreal for the former, and UQAM for the latter. As well as animation and graphic design, however, he also paints and illustrates, practising multiple styles within each medium. For him, medium doesn’t matter – it’s the final message that counts.
We met during 2025’s Mural Festival, Montreal’s annual street art festival held every June on Saint-Laurent Boulevard to celebrate the city’s urban art and culture. The festival welcomes artists, both local and international, to participate and showcase their art along the street.
This year, Francorama was one of these artists. Sponsored by Koho, he painted one of the festival’s largest murals, found on the intersection of Saint-Laurent Boulevard and rue Marie-Anne and beside the well-known neighbourhood park, Parc-de-Portugal. It wraps around the corner of a residential building on the intersection and, according to the artist, aims to capture the essence of life in the plateau, the vibrancy of the trendy neighbourhood and its inhabitants.
What hood are you from?
Oh, well, I’ve moved around. Montreal has so many little hoods!
I grew up in Rosemount, in front of the park “Pere Marquette.” My mom used to work at the McDonald’s right next to it! Her apartment was the apartment block right next to the McDonald’s.
When they [my parents] divorced, my father stayed in Montreal for a little bit, then went to Toronto to work, and my mom went to the suburbs. So I followed her, and then I went back to Montreal, lived in Hochelaga.
So that was my second hood. And it was the old Hochelaga, which was like… BROKE [laughs]. So broke, but in a way that, like, people were working together to make it work. I had like two roommates, and we barely made any money, but it was working.
There was a strong community spirit.
Exactly. A lot – that’s the only way you could make it work. Then I moved back to Rosemont by myself. That’s when I started my own practice as an artist. I had my apartment on Jean-Talon and Rosemont.
Now I am in the Mile End. The Mile End, famous for being where all the artists go, haha. On Parc and in between Fairmount and St. Viateur. Right next to my favourite grocery store, Epicerie P.A.!
Alright, so out of all those, which one’s your favourite?
Honestly, I love the Mile End. The cheap grocery stores, the coffee shops – and just all the third spaces. All the third spaces are really cool and there’s not a day where I go for a walk and not meet somebody. But even though I love it, at the end I’d say Rosemont is my favourite.
Because it’s just close enough to Jean Talon and Villeray and to the Mile End. But it’s far enough that, like, I have silence, that perfect silence in the morning, and I’m not bothered too much by tourists or the noise of being in a trendy neighbourhood.
What do you do?
I’m kind of an artistic Jack of All Trades. I do animation – traditional, like hand-drawn animation. I paint. I have a figurative paint practice that I use to paint murals. Also, I illustrate, I do editorial illustrations.
And I have my more abstract, more expressive style of painting, which is more my gallery work. So yeah, animation, illustration, figurative painting, abstract painting, murals, and that pretty much sums it up.
What are you currently working on?
There are so many projects! I usually work on three projects at the same time. I like to say that I’m an artist, of course, but with an athlete’s mindset. So I’m always training and training in some way. These projects really help me expand and experiment.
So I just finished, maybe an hour ago, the mural for Mural Fest – sponsored by Koho – and it helped grease my engine for my upcoming project, which is going to be another mural next to the main stage at Osheaga.
So after doing the branding, it’s my first time making the mural I’ve just made for the Mural Fest. It’s the first time I’ve used this system of thinking that I used for Osheaga – having people that you can see yourself through, and having a lot of energy. Even in terms of the colour palette, it’s really bold in a way that I’ve only done with Osheaga.
So yeah, it [this year’s Mural Fest mural] was really just an opportunity for me to train for what’s coming up next. End of August.
So it’s going to be a big summer then.
Summer is when you get your money in! [laughs] Honestly, I make like half my yearly income off in four months.
Where can we find your work?
You can find my work mostly on my Instagram page ‘francorama’. That’s if you want to keep up to date with everything that’s going on. You can also just search me up on socials.
There’s also my website, francorama.work – but I haven’t updated it since like… 2020 [laughs]. Because things are just going so fast, I barely have time to even understand what’s going on!
Okay, so the Instagram page is the most up to date.
Yeah, and even there, there’s maybe like 10 projects that I still have to publish! But it’s a good sign – I’m busy [laughs]. I’m very busy!
