Mural Rededicated

One of Vernon’s first heritage murals will be rededicated Tuesday night as part of the Canada 150 events.

The multicultural mural on the side of the Post Office was painted in 2000, and represents the diverse cultures in the city.

Artist Michelle Loughery says she was helped by a number of students, and remembers it was done in November and December of that year.

“So it’s pretty relevant to me, and probably one of my favourite murals, although at the time, the students and I froze, and we have great stories of having to buy fish and chips just to keep our hands warm so the paint wouldn’t freeze to the wall,” says Loughery, who has been involved in more than two dozen heritage murals in downtown Vernon.

Loughery says the mural looks brand new, thanks to a new glazing provided by the City of Vernon.

“We had young people write to us at the time, saying how come there wasn’t a diverse culture on the walls in Vernon, and why all of the (mural subjects) were white men. We were just trying to do them in a sequence,” says Loughery.

She explains why former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was included in the mural.

“He had died recently, and we had asked the students who were university and at risk students at the time, who he was, and none of the students knew who he was. And I felt obviously history was not reaching who it needed to reach.”

The rededication ceremony — and the launch of the Canada 150 Diversity Mural Beads project — will be held in front of Greater Vernon Museum at 5 pm.