A new set of original images now encircles the centre court at Pine Centre Mall. It is the second installment in a four-part art project sponsored by mall management.
The centre court walls were, up until September, blank.
Rather than fill the space with commercial images and ads, manager Sonya Hunt issued a request for proposals calling on artists to make the space a gallery.
Photographer Bob Michek was the first successful artist, with an arrangement to provide 15 giant-sized images from the general Prince George area and change them over four times during the course of the year. The inaugural fall series was just switched to the winter images now on display.
"The feedback we've gotten has been really encouraging. The public is enjoying the art gallery concept," Hunt said.
"It has confirmed our hopes. Bob has gotten us off to a great start. When we do our next RFP maybe we will get some new ideas from other photographers or painters now that they can see how it works."
Hunt is already making plans to help Prince George's big national spectacle, even though it is still four years away.
"In 2015, that is a year we will dedicate to the Canada Winter Games. We will let them use the space," she said. "The possibilities for art tied to the Games are endless. I hope by then we have a lot of creativity flowing through the community."
Hunt acknowledged that the success of the display area makes it even more viable to turn that space into an advertising vehicle, but conversely, she said, that is all the more reason why it is so important to keep it for original art.
The commercial elements of the mall already have plenty of space, and a strong public art presence only strengthens those more appropriate ad spots while at the same time allowing for a silent public conversation to happen through the images of local artists.
