“This whole project is youth-driven,” said Loretta McDermott, referring to a colourful mural being created outside of Flin Flon’s Northern Lights Manor, a long-term care home for local seniors.
As budding artists ages 8 to 19 added striking landscapes to an exterior wall at the care home, McDermott, youth centre program coordinator at the Flin Flon Friendship Centre, explained how they got there.
Twelve youth from the Flin Flon Friendship Centre’s Community Youth Resource Project decided to create a community mural, and chose the graffiti-covered wall outside the manor as an ideal location.
McDermott said they chose the Northern Lights Manor because they felt it was important to clean up a space where the community’s elders live.
Four members of the youth group, Alex Bighetty, Trina Custer, Dana Colomb and Charity Colomb, developed designs for the wall space. They then presented them to the management team at the manor for approval.
The teens fundraised to cover the cost of materials, hosting a bake sale and a tea, and selling a piece of art by Bighetty.
McDermott noted that the paint and other materials have already cost approximately $600, and they will likely spend more on paint before the mural is complete.
“I think it’s a great thing that we are helping clean up the community” said 17-year-old Natasha McDermott, Loretta’s daughter and a youth volunteer. “It’s nice to get the youth involved. Instead of doing vandalism or stealing, we are painting and making the community very nice.”
This is a second mural for the Community Youth Resource Project. In 2013 they worked with Thompson artist Jasyn Lucas on the mural now seen in the tunnel under the Jack Freedman bridge on Bellevue Avenue.
Natasha McDermott added they have heard lots of words of encouragement from manor staff and residents of the area. She recalled one carload of onlookers who thought the youth were city workers, and were surprised to learn that a group of teenagers were volunteering their time in this way.
“People are seeing what our youth centre can do.”
Loretta McDermott says that the youth are ready and willing to work on more murals in the future, though the expense of materials can sometimes be a barrier.
She encourages organizations and businesses who are interested in adding a mural to their property to reach out.
“We are putting it out to other people. We’ve got talented youth.”
