An idea for a new community event could make uptown Flin Flon a bit more colourful. Plans are in place to create a mural-painting festival in the community, as soon as this month.
The event has been tentatively named the Pineroot Mural Festival. Modelled after some events like the Nelson International Mural Festival and the Wall-to-Wall Winnipeg Mural and Culture Festival, the event will include the design, layout and painting of a pair of murals somewhere in the Flin Flon area. The exact design and locations are unknown, but organizers hope to have the idea going by the end of August.
The idea is the brainchild of a group of local artists, but the lead organizer is the Flin Flon Arts Council’s Danielle Yungwirth.
“I wanted to be able to showcase art and artists in Flin Flon. Lots of people have mentioned murals before, that we’d like to see more of them because it’s a great way to spruce up buildings. It makes spaces that people want to hang out more in and walk around and actually enjoy them,” Yungwirth said.
A pair of mentors through the NorVA Centre are being tasked with the designs. Two key themes have been floated - northern landscapes and Indigenous scenes.
“We’re not totally sure how that’s going to go yet,” Yungwirth said.
“They’re coming up with some designs right now. It’s all kind of coming together.”
A funding request for the project has been made to the City of Flin Flon and was first publicly announced during the August 4 meeting of city council. In the request, Yungwirth said the project aligns with some key goals in the City’s strategic plan released last year - namely, to make uptown Flin Flon less of an eyesore.
“The City of Flin Flon has included beautification and tourism as strategic pillars in the community plan; we feel this project aligns with many of the key action items that fall under both of these pillars,” reads the application.
City council confirmed $3,000 of funding for the project during council's August 18 meeting.
The current plan is to start painting in late August, with a few events to be held in the final days of the project.
“Once the murals are finished or almost finished, in the last day or two of being painted, we’re hoping to plan some festivities at the site so people can come check it out and sort of feel like they’re part of the process. This year will be different because of COVID-19 and we can’t have too much going on, but hopefully in future years we can make it a pretty big deal,” Yungwirth said.
The intention of organizers is to make the murals an annual event - each year, picking either one artist or a group of artists to paint on different settings including stores, structures, buildings and abandoned properties.
“For future years, we’ve made a little committee of three or four people. Artists will be able to submit themselves, solo or as a pair or group, however they want to do it, then building or structure owners can submit their spaces and we’ll go through and select. That’ll be for next year,” Yungwirth said.
“We want to make it an annual thing. We’re doing two this year because we’re going to be doing some smaller spaces, but in the following year, if they want to do a huge one, maybe it’s only one that year. I’m hoping for at least one every summer.”
