Art students from Ecole St. Mary High School had the opportunity to connect with and beautify downtown Prince Albert on Friday morning.
Students from Grade 10 to Grade 12 painted designs on the exterior of the Gateway Mall ahead of the Downtown Street Fair on June 17. Prince Albert Downtown Business Improvement District (PADBID) executive director Rhonda Trusty said that much like the flower planting on Monday, this was an interesting and fun way to draw people downtown.
“It’s just another opportunity to engage young people,” Trusty said. “Art is a very powerful visual tool. Kids love to paint and the opportunity to paint on a business’s window is pretty cool.”
Trusty said she got in touch with Ecole St. Mary art teacher Krista Hawryluk to have an art class beautify downtown. Hawryluk said it was a great chance to connect students with the community.
“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for the students in the community,” Hawryluk said. “To see that the younger generation is interested in beautifying the city and being connected and giving back to the community, I think that’s a special thing.”
Students were painting on the windows of the old Sears store and the windows at the Central Avenue entrance to the Gateway Mall. Hawyrluk said the class was quite willing to take part.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids and it fits in with the curriculum and community action,” she explained. “Since we’re a Catholic school, we like to get out in the community and do some kind of service.”
Grade 11 student Morgan Burns was excited to have the opportunity.
“I really think it’s really exciting to show off everyone’s art skills,” Burns said. “We really like to show what we can do, and it’s been hard to because of COVID. We haven’t been able to do a lot of art things, so it’s really fun to get out and decorate everything and beautify our city.”
Burns artistic contribution incorporated grapevines into her painting. She said it helped give the downtown a summer feel, plus her dad likes them.
“I feel like this street fair is the welcoming of summer, so I feel like painting,” Burns said. “Something that has to do with summer really makes everything look really beautiful.”
PADBID plans to coordinate their outdoor panting plans with the Prince Albert Arts Centre, who put started a public poetry contest built around the theme ‘Hope’. Once those poems are installed, Trusty said someone will come back and continue painting.
“It just keeps the message going that good things are happening in the downtown,’ Trusty said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
