Montague creating collaborative mural to celebrate Canada 150
The piece will be added to the town's Art Trail
David Trimble has spent months designing and painting a 15-foot long mural, which incorporates symbols and landmarks from across Canada.
On Friday, he used a handsaw to cut it up into more than 200 pieces.
That mural was just the starting point for a much larger piece to come. The town of Montague is recruiting volunteers to replicate a larger version of the painting.
The new mural, which will be 60 feet long, will be added to the town's Art Trail, and will be permanently on display downtown.
On the Art Trail
Montague started its Art Trail in 2014, with 12 pieces of art installed throughout the town. Again this summer the town has received funding through ACOA and Canadian Heritage to add to the collection of art. Fourteen new pieces will be added this summer, including the collaborative mural.
"We wanted to tell a bit of a story as far as what Canada means to people, or what it means to be Canadian," said Andrew Rowe, Montague's events coordinator.
Rowe said most of the new pieces will focus on the town and its history, while this project has more of a focus on the history of Canada, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
'Beauty of the land'
Trimble, along with others involved with the project, designed the mural based on feedback from about a thousand people. He said he heard similar feedback over and over again.
"The beauty of the land just kept repeating itself," said Trimble.
As a result, the design focuses largely on Canada's natural landscapes. It roughly traces a path from West to East across the mural.
"Once we had that … we started going back and brainstorming on what else we might have in the image. The oceans, the farming, the mountains, the northern lights, the history of architecture, the engineering bridge designs, lighthouses," said Trimble. "And we kept adding and adding and adding until we came up with this basic model."
'Continuously adding on new ideas'
On Friday, Trimble cut the mural into 210 six-inch by six-inch squares. Those individual squares will act as a template for the two-foot by two-foot squares which the public will be invited to paint.
In July, the larger squares will be joined together to create a 60 foot long mural. Trimble said while painting, people will be able to use some creative freedom.
"We will be continuously adding on new ideas. Everybody will be able to put their own thoughts on how we can actually grow this image into a more in-depth visual of what Canada could be projected as."
For example, he said someone might decide to add a small group of people outside of a house having a kitchen party, or a cluster of bees and a hive attached to a redwood tree.
The idea is for the final mural to conform to follow the original design, but with added detail and depth.
On display in August
Rowe said there are already about 100 people signed up to contribute to the mural, but the town is looking for more volunteers.
Over the next six weeks, Trimble will host groups of people in his studio, where he will instruct them, and help them to paint their square. The mural will be assembled in July, and officially unveiled in August.
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