There are few murals in prominent public view in Prince George, some popular ones have been painted over, and yet many large walls are available for artistic upscaling.
One local artist wants to do that double-duty of subtracting blight spots while at the same time adding original eye-candy. Kathy Rohl and three of her fellow local painters are hoping to beef up the public art portfolio in this city. They have proposed a project called The History of Prince George In Murals.
"Chemainus has done it and so has Vernon, so why not Prince George?" said Rohl who was involved in the lumberjack image once on the west wall of the Croft Hotel and the giant aboriginal collage on the west wall of what was the PG Lock & Key on Fifth Avenue at Quebec Street.
Both were group projects by local artists. Both of those images have now been painted over.
"It was crazy. I don't know why anyone would do that. New owners bought those buildings and didn't want them there. It was such a shame," said Rohl.
Her other mural - a solo project on the western wall of The Chinese Store - still stands.
To address the problem of evocative public art being swept away by the whims of landlords, Rohl and friends are suggesting future murals be painted on panels, so they can be simply unscrewed at one location and reattached to some other spot, should the host building ever be re-envisioned.
Rohl and company (three other artists comprising a group of two aboriginal and two non-aboriginal painters) did some research, came up with some preliminary designs and approached a few landowners with prominent blank walls.
Two have consented to having the artwork installed. One of those walls is about 10-by-40 feet while the other is about 22-by-84 feet in area.
"We have received no funding yet. It is a new idea," said Rohl. She is in the process of soliciting for sponsors and donors. Two she has contacted have indicated they would consider payment in the next fiscal year, which is fine with the group since they are aiming for a goal of 20 murals installed over five years.
"I would like to see the murals in a walking tour," said Rohl. "Tourists are always looking for some kind of history in the towns that they visit. This project might turn the downtown around for the good, with more volume of walking traffic."
She mentioned the striking eastern wall of the Post Office/BID Group building where the Canada Winter Games mural has become a visual highlight. Commercial-scale wall paintings at Groop Gallery and the Connaught Youth Centre are other examples, plus the salmon mosaic at City Hall and the artistic adornments at the Prince George Airport, in the public sector.
Anyone wishing more information can contact Rohl at [email protected].
