NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Calgary artist Jesse Gouchey works on a mural downtown on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019. Gouchey worked on a collaborative piece with other local artists that honours Indigenous women in Canada who have been murdered or are missing.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
A downtown underpass received a face lift this weekend thanks to a number of artists, Medicine Hat College students and the Miywasin Youth Group.
Calgary artist Jesse Gouchey, with the help of many others, spent Saturday and Sunday painting a colourful mural on one half of the pedestrian underpass on First Street SE under the bridge.
“This is a fun collaboration piece,” said Gouchey. “This is a tribute piece for the missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada – all over Canada – the piece is a giant red dress that is stretched across a lot of the right side.
“The dress is tied and wound up and there’s dancers around it signifying the struggle of the dress.
“As the dress keeps going to the right, it unwinds a bit and the piece gets more colourful.”
The other side of the underpass was taken over Sunday by artists Olie Larsen and Jenn Lewry from The Lucky Squid, as well as visual communications students from the college. The team will be finishing its piece today.
“Our piece isn’t related to the one across the street – there’s no hidden meaning or anything like that, it’s just about having nice art here,” said Larsen. “We’ve got these mythical whales and on the back of them riding is the Man on the Moon. Behind him is a bunch of children he is leading to dreamland.
“It’s a pretty simple concept and we kept it pretty PG – we just want people to enjoy the art.”
Gouchey says it has been a fun time working in the Hat, and that his piece does have an important meaning.
“The injustice to Aboriginal and Indigenous women and men in this country is something that needs to be addressed,” he said. “The racism that takes place in this country, the injustices that are swept under the rug here and the investigations that aren’t done well enough need to be talked about.
“It needs to change.”
The murals were co-ordinated by Pop Up Parks and board member Dina Jubrak says the artists appreciated motorists showing support while driving by, but added that honks and engine revving are quite loud in an underpass.
“It would be better if people parked in a safe spot and came over to talk to us about what was going on,” she said. “We’re sure people have good intentions, but it’s just really hard on the ears.”
