You could say some Maritime artists are painting the town red, blue, and a rainbow of other colours these days. That's because murals are showing up on buildings in communities big and small, including the town of New Glasgow, N.S.
Property owner Jamie MacGillivray says he noticed the murals appearing in the community in late spring.
“Young children, they like them,” MacGillivray says. “That's what makes me happy – that the kids like them. They add some youth and some energy to the downtown.”
Community development is a major goal of the program. As visitors come into the downtown area, they'll be met with a splash of colour and eye-catching designs.
“People will stop and look, and the whole idea is to have people get out of their vehicles, walk through our downtown, shop in our stores check out our riverfront,” says New Glasgow economic development director Geralyn MacDonald.
Some of the buildings have been repainted with new designs, including a Canada 150 mural by artists Gordon MacDonald and Sage MacLeod.
MacDonald says it took them more than a week to create the two-storey masterpiece.
“We looked at all the colours that were in the logo and went from there,” says MacDonald. “Kind of picked colours that were similar for the background and then tried to pick spray paint that was similar to the actual logo itself so it would stand out more.”
A quick look around downtown New Glasgow and you can see plenty of empty canvas for more murals.
There's a lot of grey space and a lot of spaces that could be more lively and bring more energy to the community and uplift it from harder times,” says MacDonald. “It definitely brings people up and that's something that we've always wanted to do.”
The artists say the only thing left would be to glaze the mural. Everyone knows it can't last forever, but they're hoping people can enjoy it for a few years.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan MacIntosh.
