Mural installed to commemorate Manitou Beach centennial

“The panels were finished in mid-April and then with the help of Vince Armstrong who is one of our councillors here we installed it on the wall about the third week of April,” Gaudet said.

The mural is influenced by a photograph of the beach that dates back before any living person’s memory according to Gaudet. The photo looks toward the beach from the water and a pier from a boat house, along with a few other buildings.

“The prominent feature of the mural is actually the water itself because it shows the beach and then the bottom third of the mural is all water,” Gaudet said.

The top of the mural in the sky shows galloping horses and buffalo from the mythological memory of First Nations in the area of the animals on the lake in spirit form. They are represented in the clouds above the landscape.

Gaudet said the sky features an ‘unusual’ colour key with the horizon being a lavender color.

Longtime Manitou resident Homer Burke is included in the mural on the peer as well as his father Art Burke who was the first constable in the resort village.

“Homer Burke actually passed away this last fall and so one of the wonderful things about mural painting is that you can commemorate not only places and time but also people,” Gaudet said.

The mural will be officially unveiled in July and will coincide with many other activities planned for the Manitou Beach centennial celebrations.

Gaudet is now turning his attention to the ‘Manitou Reflections’ project which is a stainless-steel art piece that will be installed on the north shore of the beach.

The centennial events planned will begin early in the summer and will include the Danceland homecoming as well as the Big Float. The Big Float is a challenge to have the most people reading while floating in the lake on July 13.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser

by Angie Rolheiser

Mural installed to commemorate Manitou Beach centennial

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