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Public Art is at the heart of Tourism’s new community project, being conducted in partnership with the Neepawa Area Collegiate Institute’s Grade 11 and 12 art classes. It’s something that local artist and teacher Katy Martin has felt was lacking from the town and would be a good draw to the community as tourism starts to pick up again.

Martin was also keen to get students involved in the community outside of the school, and to see their work have an impact on the community as a whole. The mural project is intended to take place over multiple years, with new students coming into the project each year and returning students able to see and share the results of their previous year’s project. The students, says Martin, are already heavily invested, even before the first mural has been unveiled to the public.

Each year will see the production of two murals, one based on a photo that could be submitted by any resident and one based on designs proposed by the students themselves. The tourism committee will select which two proposals they want to move forward with, which the students will then produce on an 8 foot square board.

The first two murals will be unveiled at a special event on June 11th, after which they will be installed on two different businesses in Neepawa. Martin hopes that after a couple of years, the murals will begin to create a sort of outdoor gallery and walking tour throughout the downtown area of Neepawa, increasing their tourism potential.

As for the future, Martin says she has several more ideas for public art in the Neepawa area and would be excited to see any of them come to fruition, perhaps in the process creating a distinct artistic identity for the town.

Everyone is welcome to attend the event on June 11th, which will include a reception and also feature other art produced by the students.