BETTER LATE, THAN NEVER
Official Mural Maps
Happy Trails to Festival of Murals board members Lynne Landyo, and Mark DuMez, on their retirement from the board at the 2016 Annual General Meeting. Lynne, co-owner of It’s A Small World B&B, served as board secretary for many years. She served two separate stints on the board, starting in 2006. Mark, who oversaw the society’s school liaison program, will continue with his hectic career as Artistic Director at the Chemainus Festival Theatre. Many thanks, to both Lynne and Mark. Also at the 2016 AGM, Tom Andrews, the society’s president told members what the board or directors have accomplished in 2015.
President Tom Andrews presents a giclee of Emily Carr’s ‘Beloved Trees’ (muraltown.com/shop) to retiring secretary Lynne Landygo, as treasurer Doreen Zielke looks on.
“Our website – muraltown.com was completed with the finalization of the merchandise sale section or the “shopping cart”. Shoppers can go online and order any of the souvenir merchandise. It is working well and we have been successful with sales of mural books, poster prints and souvenir maps.
“We created and published two new versions of our popular Souvenir Mural Maps – one uses the Winning Float mural on the cover and the other one has the #3 Climax Engine. They are very attractive looking maps and one of our best selling items. Thanks to the Visitor Centre and Museum for selling the majority of maps and for promoting the Mural Program.
“Over the summer, Cim McDonald, our great curator, refurbished two of our murals – total refurbishment of #11 Temporary Homes on the Subway Restaurant and #10 Mill Street in 1948 which is in Old Town on Trout’s Barber Shop wall. They look brand new, bright and as colourful as they were originally painted.
“In October, at a Chamber of Commerce promoted Meet and Greet gathering at Island Savings in Chemainus Village Square, we officially launched our new Souvenir Mural Map and unveiled plans for some new mural projects. The event was well attended by businesses and the public. We appreciate the work done by Island Savings in planning the event and hosting it in their branch in Chemainus Village Square. It’s a beautiful venue and allowed us to showcase our projects and introduce the Board Members to the public. Gail Irwin of the Dayliner Café provided some excellent appetizers and Alderlea Vineyards set up a sampling station. It was a great success and provided us with local exposure.
Society’s Meet and Greet in the lobby of Island Savings Chemainus Village Square location.
“In the fall, we initiated a membership drive. Dee Kinnee coordinated it with a goal of getting the business community involved in supporting the Mural Program. The drive was successful as we increased our membership from 34 to just under 80 members – more than double from last year. Thank you to Dee and to Peter Watts at the Best Western PLUS Chemainus Inn for sponsoring the drive.
“Over the past year we have been working with Anthem Properties of Vancouver to install three new murals on their building on Willow Street between Utopia Bakery and Bonnie Martins Restaurant in the back laneway. We finally reached an agreement on the location and placement of the murals and the mural subjects and signed a contract with Anthem Properties in February. Anthem Properties will be a major sponsor of the three murals with a donation of $6,500 to the Mural Society. We are very pleased with their support.
“Six artists were invited to submit proposals to create the new murals using three paintings by Emily Carr. Anthem approved three of the submissions and we have signed contacts with the artists – so the work has started. We hope to have an unveiling ceremony this summer. These three murals will be painted on boards in the artist’s studio and installed on the store walls so that they will be easier to maintain.
“We worked with the Municipality over the last year regarding the Willow Street Revitalization Project. Two of the mural locations were enhanced for improved viewing – the area in front of The Company Store mural was opened up with the new lane way between the Post Office and the Telus Building. The area in front of and beside the Telephone Co. circa 1915 mural was cleaned up and upgraded. As well the new lane way has opened up some walls for potential new murals.
“A major project we completed this year was identifying, photographing and cataloguing all of the art work the Society has accumulated over the years. The collection totals over 80 pieces of artwork – paintings, sketches and sculptures. We have had them appraised and hope to use them to raise funds for the Society.
“Another activity that consumed a lot of time was planning and executing our office move from the Old Fire Hall Building to the new Visitor Centre. We had to downsize by about 90 per cent to fit into our new space. Thanks to Jeanne at the Chamber for coordinating our move with theirs and setting up the new space for us. We sold a lot of items, donated what we could and gave the rest away.
“We updated our five-year Maintenance and Refurbishment Plan. This is done based on semi-annual mural tours when we evaluate the condition of all the murals and plan the work necessary to keep them updated, refreshed and colorful so that the town looks its best for our residents and thousands of visitors. The M&R Plan drives our annual budget and planning process. We manage 42 Historical Murals, two Emily Carr Murals and 11 Monuments and Sculptures.”