Colby Cave’s legacy finds new life in a wall of colour in North Battleford

The Colby Cave memorial mural covers the wall of the 1201 101st Street building in downtown North Battleford. Artist Harley Sinclair began painting in early August and expects to finish next week, ahead of the Nov. 22 unveiling ceremony. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

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A vision years in the making

The idea began nearly three years ago with Kori Humenny, executive director of the North Battleford Business Improvement District (BID).

“When I started with the BID, that was one of the first projects that I had on my plate,” she said. “I really wanted to have something that wasn’t just to beautify our downtown but to actually bring people in and want to see it.”

Humenny wanted the artwork to honour a local figure who embodied community spirit.

“The first person that came to mind was Colby Cave,” she said. “We never did get to really honour him or do anything for him in our community because his passing was during [COVID-19].”

After consulting Cave’s family and securing the building, Humenny turned to local designer Darren Russell of Ultraprint, who created a digital layout tracing Cave’s rise from the Battlefords Barons to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars, the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos, the AHL’s Providence Bruins and finally to the NHL.

(Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

Bringing a hero to life in paint

To execute the design, the BID enlisted Harley Sinclair, a Regina-based Indigenous artist from Peepeekisis First Nation. Known for his bold, high-contrast palette, Sinclair approached the mural as both a technical challenge and a tribute.

“The most important factor has been to capture the likeness of Colby Cave,” he said. “I wanted to bring him to life with vibrant, rich colours and lighting.”

The composition flows from right to left — beginning with Cave’s youth in a Battlefords Barons jersey rendered in a Polaroid-style frame, moving through his time with the Providence Bruins and Edmonton Oilers, and ending with another black-and-white Polaroid image from his early days on the ice.

“Front and center, which catches a lot of people’s eyes, is actually his photo from when he played on the Edmonton Oilers,” Sinclair said. “It’s a perfect centerpiece bringing the whole mural together.”

Artist Harley Sinclair stands beside the Colby Cave memorial mural in downtown North Battleford. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

A Polaroid-style portrait of a young Colby Cave in his Battlefords Barons jersey appears on the mural’s right side. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

At 2,400 square feet, the piece is five times larger than any he’s done before. He combined exterior acrylics with aerosol paint, learning the latter as he worked.

“My strong foundation in the arts gave me the tools necessary to really stretch my wings and fly with the aerosols,” he said.

He began painting in early August and expects to finish the piece next week, just ahead of the unveiling ceremony on Nov. 22.

Pressure, pride and connection

Sinclair admits the project carried emotional weight. Painting someone he’d never met but knew meant so much to others, he said, came with pressure.

“But as the piece came together, I started to feel a very large sense of pride.”

That feeling deepened each time a resident stopped by to share memories of Cave.

“Almost every day, there were multiple people who would stop by and share their stories,” Sinclair said. “It wasn’t long before I started to feel like I was a part of the community.”

Honouring a legacy

Humenny believes the mural’s greatest strength lies in how it reflects Cave’s beginnings.

“Other kids will be able to see themselves there,” she said. “They can see themselves idolizing someone that made it as far as Colby did.”

She still remembers the day the community lined Highway 16 to pay their respects to the Cave family as they returned home after his passing.

“It was so powerful,” she said. “Whether you knew him or you didn’t, everyone has that same emotion of knowing what it means to come together as a community.”

RCMP and the Battlefords’ fire departments led the family of Colby Cave along 15 kilometres of Highway 16, where residents lined the route to pay their respects in April 2020. (file photo/battlefordsNOW)

A celebration of memory and hope

The mural unveiling will take place Saturday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m., at 1201 101st Street in downtown North Battleford. The event will feature Oilers alumni, staff from the Oilers Entertainment Group and Oilers Blue Ice Crew, and team mascot Hunter. It also coincides with Santa Day, featuring sleigh rides, children’s activities and a visit from Santa Claus.

For Sinclair, the unveiling will be both joyful and emotional.

“As with any art piece that I work on, I put a piece of myself into this,” he said.

“It’s going to be an emotionally heavy unveiling — but I know these are going to be tears of joy.”

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung