Destruction of pedway mural left Saint John artist feeling like her 'heart was ripped out'

In 2017, for three straight months, New Brunswick artist Deanna Musgrave woke up in the middle of the night to paint the ceiling and doorway of the Saint Patrick Street pedway in Saint John.

From 3 a.m. until mid-morning — the best time to paint a high-traffic area — she laboured over the intricate birds and optical illusions intertwining on the window-surrounded ceiling that would later become the mural called Nest.

So it came as a surprise to Musgrave last week when her husband told her the ceiling had been ripped out.

"I just said, we have to go right away," Musgrave said, recalling the moment.

"I walked in and it was like the skin had been ripped off and all I could see were the bones, and it was just gone.

"All of it was gone, except for the entryway. And it's like my heart was ripped out."

Musgrave said she got in touch with the city to find out why she wasn't contacted and what happened to her artwork. That was when she learned there was a water leak in the ceiling of the pedway that connects Market Square to City Hall.

"Water leaks can be in one spot, and you could cut that out … and even if it was indeed a rainstorm, you'd be surprised by how art can be conserved," Musgrave said.

"And even if it really was to be all destroyed, I should have been given the respect — respect is the word here — to go and cut out the birds that were dedicated to people."

Shortly after seeing the torn-out ceiling, Musgrave took to social media, where her posts have resonated with the community and other artists.

Musgrave said people on social media have told her the leak started on Feb. 4, and she wonders why she wasn't contacted at that point to try to preserve the artwork.

In an email, Erin White, a spokesperson for the City of Saint John, said "it is with deep regret" that the city was unable to salvage the mural, which was a gift from Musgrave and the Hardman Group to the city, "due to extensive water damage caused by a broken ceiling drain."

"The damage rendered the ceiling tiles unsalvageable and posed a public health hazard, necessitating the immediate removal of the damaged tiles," the email read.

Julie Whitenect, the executive director of ArtsLink N.B., said she shares the community's feeling that this is a huge loss for the city, pointing to the number of shares and posts online.

She said she hopes it will lead to positive policy development for the protection of public art.

And while Whitenect said she understands not everything can be saved, she said this should be discussed before a project begins, rather than something that happens after an incident.

"If there is a point in which the thing cannot be continued, there should still be a discussion with the artists about maybe we want to document it one last time before this is taken down," said Whitenect.

"Or if it's an installation of work, there may be ways to save it, or parts of it instead of it being gone completely."

Musgrave said the mural project began in early 2017, when a member of the Hardman Group and the North Wharf Cultural Association approached her and asked her to do a large work on the doorway entering the pedway. 

She said yes, as long as she was allowed to do the ceiling, as well, at no extra cost to them. 

A work of that nature costs about $35,000 to $60,000, said Musgrave, but it was her gift to the city and the community.

The mural included birds, totalling 150 wings, to represent 150 years of Canada, with each bird dedicated to a community member and their story, said Musgrave. That led up to a Canadian flag before fading into a pride flag, which from the other direction looks like a peace flag.

From there, the painting was an optical illusion with the Northern Lights leading into the mouth of a baleen whale.

During the later morning hours that Musgrave painted the mural, she said people would come up to her and talk to her about the painting. She said it connected with a lot of the community.

"I think that's why it's such a loss," she said. "We should always protect our art, but, you know, there's certain murals that become landmarks and part of our community history, and this was one of them."

Musgrave said she's been touched by how many people have called her and offered their condolences.

Groups and individuals in Saint John have also shared Musgrave's posts with messages of support.

"It's not just like a gift you give to someone else, like at Christmas or something — it's a formal gift of public art to a city," she said.

"How our city treats those gifts is a reflection of our culture.

"I really believe that this loss of this artwork could lead to something good, something that allows for this never to happen again to another artist."