The Journey of the
"Chemainus - Emily Carr Outdoor Art Gallery"

Under the Distinguished Patronage of
The Honourable Steven L. Point
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

The artist Steffan Junemann along with
Molly Newman (as Emily Carr) and
Dr. karl Schutz during the installation of
the world's first Emily Carr outdoor art gallery at
the Trompe L'oeil Mural
"Emily's Beloved Trees".

The idea goes back to February 21, 1997 when Dr. Karl Schutz met Valerie Pusey, who owned an art gallery in Victoria, which sold the art of Emily Carr. At that time, the germ of an idea to expand the mural theme to include a famous artist, like Emily Carr, was planted. It was not until he was introduced to the ‘Group of Seven Murals’ in Huntsville, Ontario, on December 15, 2006, that the idea of the Emily Carr mural theme slowly came to life.

After re-joining the Festival of Murals (FOM) in early 2007, Karl made it his goal to expand the theme of the Murals. Karl first introduced the theme for either E.J. Hughes or Emily Carr to the FOM in July 2007. No action was taken at that time. Then kismet stepped in! On Sunday October 21, 2007, Karl and his wife, Betty, went on a fateful mystery bus tour which included Emily Carr House, where he met Jan Ross. When he shared his vision about Emily Carr murals with Jan, who supported the idea with great enthusiasm, he knew the project was guaranteed to be a success.

See the Next Emily Carr Mural number 2 in the series Page > 

It was not until November 2007, that the FOM president, Jon Lefebure, and board, officially recognized the merit of his proposal. Karl was given the opportunity to pursue this new venture.

Karl has always been a great believer in destiny, and it was clear that until now, the time was not right for this project. Finally, in 2008, a year that saw the celebration of both the FOM’s 25th anniversary and the 150th birthday of the Province of British Columbia, the time was indeed right. Karl predicted that with the full support of the FOM board members, the project would become as important to marketing Chemainus as the Murals were in the beginning, and given the chance, over time, even more so!

On November 27, 2007 Karl received a letter from Steffen Jünemann, a German Trompe L’oeil mural artist. Steffen had heard about the FOM’S previous discussion with another Trompe L’oeil artist and suggested they meet. During their meeting, Steffen expressed a desire to paint a mural for the FOM.

It was at the January 21, 2008 FOM board meeting that the expansion of the mural theme to include the history of Vancouver Island, and the Emily Carr mural project, were born.
At their Annual General Meeting on April 22, 2008, the FOM changed its constitution to include the history of Vancouver Island and the Emily Carr mural project was on its way.

 After negotiations with two artists, the Board was very impressed with his rendering and selected Steffen Jünemann’s proposal. The board approved the design and Jon Lefebure signed the contract with Steffen on August 1, 2008. The finished illustration arrived on August 28, 2008 and the first Emily Carr Mural was unveiled on October 15, 2008. Due to the weather and other delays, the mural wasn’t completely finished at that time. The final completion date was April 2009.