The Vankleek Hill Murals Project continues to move forward.  The re-painting of the “Community Patchwork”, coordinated by Lorie Turpin, will begin in the next month.  Turpin, whose style of painting is “Realism”, will support a group of volunteer artists in painting a complete new reproduction of the mural.

The original version of the mural, located at the corner of High Street and Main Street, was painted in 2000 and is composed of key events in the history of Vankleek Hill to that point.  Anyone interested in participating in the new painting should contact Turpin at [email protected].

Along with addressing the needs of the old murals, the Murals Project is also creating a new addition to Vankleek Hill’s collection of historic murals.  The new mural, to be installed on the wall of the LCBO building facing Mill Street, will be composed of the most significant events in Vankleek Hill during the past 25 years.

Last June, through The Review, the public was invited to nominate which events should be recognized in the new mural.  In July, a panel comprised of Mayor Gary Barton, Review publisher Louise Sproule and Arbor Gallery Cultural Centre volunteer Derek Evans examined the nominations and made a final selection.

The new mural will be composed of images of the following significant events of the past 25 years in Vankleek Hill:

Andy Perrault’s Vigil for the Environment

Beau’s Brewery / Oktoberfest / Ovarian Cancer Run (collage)

Christmas Home Tour

Creation of Farmers’ Market

Demolition of the Ste-Marie Convent

Establishment of Champlain Township

Festival of Flavours

Funeral of Phil Arber

Hendersons’ Fifty Random Acts of Kindness

International Ploughing Match & IPM Queen Courtney Connors

New Fire Hall

New Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute

Polycystic Kidney Disease Walk

Porchfest/Balconfete

Restoration of Higginson Tower

Splash Pad

Twenty Years of Blues on Tues

Zudio

The new mural will measure 24 feet by eight feet and will feature a design created by Mike Hadad of Beau’s graphics team. The concept will be looking through an elegant Victorian window framed by Vankleek Hill’s traditional gingerbread.  Each “pane” of the window will contain an image of one of the selected events.

The design allows for four different sizes of images to reflect different levels of significance and sponsorship: $600, $500, $400 and $300.  Individuals, business and community groups are invited to sponsor an entire image, or contribute to sponsoring one of the images in particular or the mural as a whole.

To date, Evans has raised about $12,000 for the mural projects. Champlain Township recently approved an $8,000 donation to the project; funds were provided from the Vankleek Hill Hydro reserve fund.

The name of each sponsor contributing $50 or more will be inscribed on the new mural.  Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor should contact Derek Evans at [email protected].