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NEWS: 6th National Mural Symposium
Summary
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“Agincourt's Journey
Through Time”
By Rob Matejka, Kristin
Taylor, Andy Tsang, and Jeff Wong,
Summer 2002
Agincourt Mall: 2350 Kennedy Road. On the side of the Bank of Montreal
building, Toronto, ON
Utilizing suggestions from the community and historical information...more |
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| The Sixth National Mural Symposium,
held October 25-27, 2002, was an informative and valuable event for
all those interested in mural art. Sponsored by Mural Routes and
hosted by the PubliArt Vanier, last year's symposium included a
Friday evening networking reception, a series of workshops and a
guided tour of Vanier's murals, and a wrap-up roundtable discussion
on the Sunday. A brief synopsis of the workshops, tour and
roundtable discussion is provided below. |
Site Specific Mural Painting
Speaker: Professor Bruce Parsons of York University |
Bruce spoke about the murals at York University,
showing slides of the progression and completion of murals at the
University. He cited Belkin, Borofsky, Diego Rivera and Siqueiros as
examples of good mural art and suggested that artists study these
and other muralists.
Bruce then answered questions from participants as to choosing a
location for a mural, the process of collecting the image for the
work, various materials and what format and colours to use. Bruce
encourages students to develop and maintain an image bank. He
stressed that a client’s interests and the budget are determining
factors in producing a mural. |
Mural Conservation
Speaker: Debra Daly Hartin, conservator with the Canadian
Conservation Institute and Richard Jones, General Manager of
Aquarius Coatings Inc., a Toronto based paint manufacturer and
developer. |
Debra spoke about maintenance of murals and other
outdoor public art. She explained that murals do have a limited life
span, especially in our harsh winters, and she asked that muralists
fill out a condition report of murals in your area and then forward
to her for inclusion in a data base which will, hopefully, be of
benefit to all artists with respect to conservation when completed.
(You will find a copy of the condition report on the Canadian
Conservation institute website:
www.cci-icc.gc.ca/whats-new/murals/index_e.shtml
).
Debra stressed that with murals it was most important that the wall
be sound. If using plywood that the edges should be well sealed so
that moisture cannot find its way into the wood. She has found that
thermal walls, which are quite permanent, do dent easily. It was
noted that bungee banners are excellent for painting on and for
maintaining, but quite costly to put up. She also suggested that
when using new products, do a lot of research before choosing
something. She mentioned various websites which have information on
new products; i.e.
www.goldenpaints.com and
www.novacolorpaint.com.
For more information you can contact the Canadian Conservation
Institute (613) 998-3721 or use their website:
www.cci-icc.gc.ca.
The session ended with Richard Jones demonstrating the uses of
Armaglaze. This product has a seamless coating which when painted
over murals, makes it easy to clean off surface dirt. He recommended
a soft wash. Armaglaze is U.V. resistant and colours do stay bright
under this coating. He stated that using a product such as this (not
necessarily Armaglaze, but anything that serves the same purpose)
would add up in maintenance cost savings. More information on this
product can be obtained at Aquarius Coating Inc. 1-800-661-2298.
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STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD:
developing the tools
for your own unique promotional campaign.
Speakers: Ricardo Santos, graphic designer and founder of Eaton
Media, Mike Lalonde, been Executive Manager of Cornwall & Seaway
Tourism and moderated by Carol Knowlton-Dority, teacher and artist.
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Rick discussed that having a website to showcase
samples of an artists work is an efficient and effective to get your
message out to a large audience. Instead of carrying a portfolio,
one can just access the website and see the work on line. A website
should be clean, free of clutter and most importantly should be
updated frequently. Websites can be linked to Mural Routes and other
sites i.e. Community Arts Ontario. Rick stated that your work speaks
for itself and that your images can be protected with watermarks.
Karin mentioned that the Mural Routes website gets hits from across
the world and mentioned a man from Scotland who had visited the site
and was so intrigued that he visited Mural Routes on his last visit
to Toronto.
If you do not have a website there are other ways of getting your
image out; i.e.: postcards, letter heads and visitor guides which
often feature murals in the area. Murals educate people as to art -
“it’s in your face” and Rick encouraged muralists to register with
Mural Routes.
Mike Lalonde discussed the marketing of mural projects and his
experiences in Cornwall. Mike described Cornwalls’s experience
hosting the Walldog Jam Conference in 2001. This conference
attracted 150 artists, graphic artists, sign painters, and muralists
to Cornwall to participate in an exchange of ideas and techniques.
During the conference nine outdoor wall murals celebrating
Cornwall’s history were created.
Having local bus tours incorporate the murals into their tour was
discussed as a means of marketing. Media liaison was mentioned with
regard to mural unveilings and Yvon spoke about the press release
from Rideau Hall when the last mural in Vanier was unveiled by the
Governor General. He advised the group to make connections with the
media and after the fact, to remember to thank them for their story.
The wrap up concluded that there was potential in strengthening
one’s website. And as for target marketing, go after the market that
brings in results. |
JOINING FORCES: Marketing partnerships for mural
projects.
Facilitated by Karin Eaton, president of Mural Routes and Executive
Director of Scarborough Arts Council. |
As a follow-up to discussions held during the 5th
National Mural Symposium, this session was focused on finding ways
to combine resources, share marketing strategies and experiences to
improve awareness of outdoor murals.
Different media ideas that were discussed were: CTV – Canada AM,
which features attractions from across Canada; local and regional
tourism authorities can be approached, such as Ontario tourism which
develops printed materials as well as an extensive website;
distributing your mural information in “Rack Cards” (Henderson
Printing will design and distribute in Canada and the USA for
approximately $700: 1-800-263-2655).
Finding websites to link to your mural site was also mentioned as a
good strategy for gaining exposure – there are many different types
of target groups to focus on, for example: local BIA websites,
tourism sites, art groups, historical societies to name a few.
Pembroke has developed a colouring book of its murals, and using
historic murals as part of history lessons in general was discussed.
Bus tour programs and self-tour maps are both good ways to expose
murals to a wider audience. |
ARTISTS’ ROUNDTABLE: An information sharing session
Facilitated by Bruce Parsons. |
The main topic of discussion at the round table
was: how do you get art on the walls and where does the money come
from to get it up there?
Most often these projects are funded by the not-for-profit sector.
Different types of grants to apply for were discussed.
It was suggested that the artists themselves should work within
their communities to raise the level of awareness about mural art:
create a demand for murals.
Another means that an artist might consider to get their work up on
walls is to approach the individual business owners and wall owners
of possible sites. There was also discussion around the idea of
working with the billboard companies to get pro-rated space to put
up art work.
It was noted that negotiations are a big part of creating mural art
and that mural artists should educate themselves in the areas of
contracts and cost of materials, in order to successfully negotiate.
Other points of discussion:
- Art by committee vs. art by the artist.
- Controversy just for the sake of controversy is not necessarily
constructive.
- Ownership: should you be allowed to paint on other peoples’
property without their permission?
- You cannot always measure the value of art in dollars. |
FINDING A BALANCE – the ethics of public art murals
Introduced by Kirsten Gardner |
Kirsten began by discussing that it doesn’t matter
if you are a big organization or a small one – or a single artist -
that finding a balance is important to achieve a common goal. She
mentioned that on her own Board, there are people from all walks of
life and that some groups would take credit where none was due;
however, what was important in the end was that a goal was achieved
and that the project was completed. Kirsten discussed that if a
subject was not relevant to the project, they do not bring it to the
table which resolves a lot of problems within a diverse group.
Kirsten said that they have an open door policy whereby anyone can
join in - if there is an issue, or a negative attitude, you are
welcome to come in and discuss the issue. They found it difficult to
find the balance and then to maintain a balance instead of
compromise. Kirsten went on to discuss the South Dundas murals. She
said that artists need rights and that the community has a filter;
i.e. the arts council in her case. Artist’s moral rights were
mentioned and PubliArt Vanier brought up the Karole Marios mural
which a restaurant has now partly blocked off with a patio. It was
felt that the moral right continues to be the artists because by
building the patio, the restaurant has disturbed the wall and the
integrity of the artist’s work has been jeopardized.
Karin gave the example of another work in L.A. during the Olympics.
The owner of the wall had given permission for a mural which he
simply painted out after the Olympics were over. The artist fought
back and the owner had to pay for the restoration. Karin pointed out
that a contract is very important in cases like this.
Standardized samples of contracts written by Paul Sanderson are
available through Mural Routes. Paul Sanderson is a well known
entertainment lawyer who also has a book out on contracts which
again is available through Mural Routes. ("Model Agreements for
Visual Artists: A Guide to Contracts in the Visual Arts" Toronto,
CARO 1982 $35). These sample contracts can be adapted to an artist’s
own particular needs.
Outdoor murals do not exist forever. They have a limited life span
and the question was raised “where is the cut-off?” Negotiation is
very important during the contract set-up and artists should receive
some payment “up front”. PubliVanier said that they pay 30% down,
60% at the finish and 10% when the artist produces the maquette.
It was discussed that artists can approach a wall owner or go
through a filter group to get their work up on walls. Some people
want to rent their walls which means your work is only up for a
limited time. Safety issues were discussed as being the
responsibility of a filter group. Artists were also warned to be
wary of lot lines, vacant properties i.e.: a building could suddenly
appear and completely hide a mural. One group felt that muralled
buildings increased property values. It was also mentioned that
there is a difference between the larger and smaller towns when it
comes to mural painting.
The ethics of graffiti art were mentioned and the distinctions
between vandalism and graffiti were pointed out and discussed.
Graffiti transformation groups in some cases are encouraging taggers,
who have talent, to become artists on permitted walls. |
| Guided tour of Vanier’s Murals
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Yvon Dubé guided an enthusiastic group on a tour of
the Vanier murals. Each mural was viewed close up, allowing many
people a chance to photograph them, and in some cases the artist was
on hand to provide commentary.
The weekend was concluded with a hearty, traditional lunch at the
only urban Sugar Shack in North America, thanks to PubliArt Vanier.
Shannon Madden from Windsor gave a bid on behalf of the Ford City
Discovery Centre to host the 2003 National Mural Symposium.
Don't miss the 7th National Mural Symposium, to be held in Windsor
in fall of 2003. |
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