In 2026, Aparna Rangnekar was named one of Canada’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrants, presented by Canadian Immigrant magazine and Western Union, in the Artist and Educator category, honoured for her work in culture and community arts in Milton, Ontario.

Aparna is a visual artist, muralist, art educator, and curator originally from Mumbai, India. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Sir J.J. School of Art, majoring in mural arts, along with postgraduate training in ceramics and pottery. After living in the Middle East, she and her husband Sanjay relocated to Milton, Ontario with their two children, drawn by the town’s cultural diversity, and has built a career spanning more than two decades since.

Her work is known for vibrant colours and bold textures that create striking compositions with a childlike simplicity, from large-scale public murals, including the 2015 PAN AM Games mural at the Milton Velodrome and the “Together We Bloom” traffic box mural on Main Street, to community-engaged projects like Exclusively Inclusive. She founded The ‘Appy Place, an artistic community hub in Milton, and serves on the boards of Arts Milton and the Fine Arts Society of Milton, as well as Festival Director and Curator for ACISA’s Visual Arts of South Asia Arts Festival.