It was intended to celebrate Canada Post's 100th anniversary, however the pandemic struck and prevented the artists from continuing their work until recently.(JF Bolen Studio/Facebook)

By Rachel May

Beautiful Northeast

The beauty of the Northeast will shine through a new mural

Mar 10, 2023 | 12:15 PM

Melfort will soon have brand new artwork to showcase the beauty of the Northeast.

Originally intended to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canada Post, the pandemic struck and left the artists unable to continue working on the piece.

Artist Joanne Bolen told northeastNOW that since taking the mural out of storage, they are putting the finishing touches on the project.

“We wanted to show not only the history of Melfort but the future of it too.”

On the left-hand side of the mural, the old train station is depicted in muted colours.

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As your eyes wander across the mural, the water tower, city hall, pioneers as well as current residents, Indigenous influences, flax and canola make their appearances, as well as other Northeast staples.

Bolen explained that the mural itself has been in the making for quite a while.

“We presented the mock-up to the city in the fall of 2018 and then we started working on it. So it’s been a long time just planning it. We knew what we wanted to represent and so we started working out of it.”

Artist Brenda Mellon said that although they always knew the piece was for Canada Post, they didn’t want that to limit their creativity.

“We always made it broader than that. It was more about community and the sense of community and what that meant to local residents.”

With such a large-scale mural, Mellon explained the mural is intended to be something enjoyed by the community as a whole.

“We really wanted to honour the local residents and hope they feel represented when they look at the murals.”

The community also had a chance to participate in a companion piece to the mural by painting tiles that showcased what the community meant to them.

They are now close to completing the piece and are excited to share it with the community.

By the end of June, the piece should be on display.

Mellon encourages all artists to get out there and try their hand at the craft.

“Every person has a different and unique way of expressing themselves through art.”