The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The Jack Freedman Bridge underpass has long been coated with colourful paint. The difference now is that instead of spraypainted obscenities, it is being transformed into a work of art. Work began Wednesday to paint two nature-themed murals on the concrete walls on either side of the underpass on Bellevue Avenue. Kids and teens from the Community Youth Resource Centre are teaming up with renowned northern Manitoba artist Jasyn Lucas for the project. 'In some ways you get slowed down because you want to show the youth and teach them (how to paint),' Lucas said. 'And then in other ways you get totally sped up because I have like 15 kids here, so it's really neat to see how fast we can actually get things done.' Lucas himself painted and also guided the youth as they added a variety of dark and bright colours to the walls. By Sunday they hoped to have the murals complete, with one wall depicting the Northern Lights and the other a daytime river scene. Teachings Between the two murals, the seven sacred teachings of aboriginal culture will be depicted in the form of an eagle (love), a buffalo (respect), a bear (courage), a sabe (honesty), a beaver (wisdom), a wolf (humility) and a turtle (truth). Loretta McDermott, program coordinator at the Youth Centre, said the project gives youth an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the community. 'They were part of the planning of the purpose of the mural and now they're doing the hands-on work under the mentoring of Jasyn,' she said. The murals were first proposed back in June. After the city gave its blessing and all of the $8,000 in funding had come in, work was ready to proceed. McDermott noted that the youth themselves raised $1,000 for the project, with the remainder coming from different grants. The murals will each be about eight feet high and run the span of both underpass walls. There was talk of doing something to conceal graffiti that remains above the eight-foot mark. McDermott said the Youth Centre has already been approached about painting murals to cover up other areas of graffiti. 'From what we learned from Jasyn, we will (keep going),' she said. Lucas, who was born in Flin Flon, was part of a similar graffiti-covering mural campaign in Thompson, where he now lives. The Freedman Bridge, sometimes called the Fourth Avenue Bridge, opened in 1999. It was dedicated to long-time former mayor Jack Freedman, who is long deceased.
