Calling all professional and hobbyist painters in Bancroft and area: A Place for the Arts (APFTA) wants to know what you love most about the region. The artist-run cooperative is seeking community artists to help revitalize a mural on the side of their building with natural scenes that show off the best the town has to offer.
“What we’re trying to bring back is pre-colonial history and nature, because that’s what Bancroft is actually about and how it grew,” says APFTA communications and marketing manager Gayle Crosmaz.
The mural in question is located at 23 Bridge Street on the west side of the building, visible alongside the York River when entering downtown Bancroft. Painted by renowned and award-winning local artist Arne Roosman in 2014, the 44-foot-long mural depicts the history of Bancroft and area since the arrival of settlers.
Roosman was born in Estonia in 1932 and studied art in Sweden before coming to Canada in 1957, where he worked as a lithographer, book designer, and artist. When he retired in 1988, he and his wife moved to the Bancroft area, where Roosman continued to work as a freelance artist. Now 92, Roosman lives in Coe Hill.
The vibrant colours of Roosman’s mural have chipped and faded away in recent years, prompting building owner Burke Chamberlin to reach out to APFTA to gather up the group of artists to show the mural some love by repainting it, with Roosman’s blessing.
“Everyone’s going to have a different style of painting, so there’s no way that we could actually reproduce what was there — I don’t even know what was all there — so I had to come up with a different plan on how we could make it different on purpose,” says Crosmaz.
Crosmaz, a visual artist whose work travels to 12 countries across the globe and a former muralist who has previously organized projects of a similar calibre, has outlined the proposed redesign which consists of overlaying two giant dragon flies and a firefly as a basis for a collage.
“It’ll be from a bug’s eye view if you were laying in the grass looking up at the mural,” Crosmaz explains. “Two-thirds of the mural is going to remain as a ghosting background because that is the past and then the foreground is nature coming back in full force.”
“Because (the current pieces are) faded with the sun, we’re going to revarnish the area that we’ve saved so that they will be protected, but it pushes it into the background, giving it a nice backdrop for the new mural that’s laid on top of it. So it’s a collage in the shapes of leaves, flowers, and bugs.”
The design has been broken down into more than 100 segments for artists in the community to paint various scenes that either depict pre-colonial history or the natural aspects they love most about the region.
The leaves and grass area will have the scenes depicted in natural colours of greens, golds, and reds, while the dragonflies will be in cooler tones and the firefly will be in warmer tones to stand out in the foreground of the mural.
In the middle, the firefly will be reserved for Algonquin First Nations artists to create representations of Algonquin teachings through their Wàwàtesi (firefly) Cultural Discovery Project, an ongoing series of experiences that introduce Algonquin culture and art to those who live in the region.
Following the success of student art shows at APFTA, artists at the North Hastings High School have also been invited to paint segments of the new mural.
“Professionals, non-professionals, hobbyist — everyone can come,” Crosmaz says. “If you’re not confident, you can pick a small square, and if you’re real confident, you can pick a big one. It’s open to everybody.”
Throughout March, a “prototype” of the mural will be available in the Annex Gallery at APFTA for artists to assess and select the segment or segments they would like to work on.
“We have guidelines and when we take people’s names and contact information, they’ll indicate what they want to paint — whether it’s a black bear, an eagle’s nest, or whatever else they decide — so we get a good diversity of perspectives of the area and what they love about it,” Crosmaz says. “It’s going to be like a tourist guide.”
With the cost of supplies having already been raised through donations and community sponsors, the painting will take place this summer throughout July and August.
Half of the mural’s 11 four-by-eight-foot panels will be worked on throughout July, while the remainder will be revitalized throughout August.
Artists will work indoors in the Annex Gallery, with the building’s barn doors opened to the street so pedestrians and passers-by can see the project taking form. Crosmaz is also hoping to recruit a cinematographer to film the project and potentially use the clips to create a documentary at the end of the summer.
Upon completion, there will be a plaque situated beside the mural with the names of sponsors and those who lent their time and talents for its rejuvenation.
“People can find their family member or friends and know where they painted their little scene,” says Crosmaz.
She plans to organize a celebratory party in September for the reveal and installation of the new mural.
“It’s bringing attention to our little corner of Bancroft,” Crosmaz says.
“It’s such a through street — everybody’s coming off (Highway) 28 or 62 and going somewhere else — and a lot of people don’t even know that we even exist. We’re creating a long-term event that will bring people to the area, so they will come back.”
For more information about the project, visit www.apfta.ca or join the Community Mural Revitalization group on Facebook. Prospective artists can reserve their spot by emailing Crosmaz at wisdomdruminternational@gmail.com.
