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By Steve Weatherbe
IT should have been a win-win deal: downtown Duncan gets free murals on walls
that too often invite unsightly graffiti; high school students get to leave
their mark on their hometown, before heading off to university or big city
jobs.
Instead, there are soured relations between Duncan Christian School (DCS), some
downtown business people and City Hall; plenty of disappointed art students; a
promising project halted in its tracks; and store walls waiting to be
vandalized.
Perhaps nobody is as unhappy as Garry MacGregor of the Duncan Business
Improvement Society. His group has tried to combat graffiti for its entire
15-year history, and saw student-painted murals as a surefire deterrent.
“The people who do graffiti invariably respect the art of others: when an area
looks like it’s being cared for, they leave it alone,” he said.
As for the quality of the student art: “It was student art, not Chemainus,” he admitted – referring to the nearby town famous for its use of every available stretch of
downtown wall, for professionally-done murals depicting local history.
DCS’s mural would have graced the building housing Telus. “I thought Duncan Christian’s mural idea was great – and the people at Telus embraced it,” said MacGregor.
However, a majority on town council felt differently. After approving two murals
without debate, by local Katimavik volunteers and students at Queen Margaret
School, the councilors suddenly decided, on seeing DCS’s proposal, that they could approve no more without first establishing criteria.
“By the third one, they decided they were losing control,” said MacGregor. “I feel really badly for the students.”
By the time the project was vetoed, the Grade 11–12 art class from DCS had already bought the paint, and put up the first coat of
blue background. Senior student Lindsay Bakker had even sketched the main
elements on top of that.
“It’s unfortunate,” said DCS principal Kevin Visscher. “The students were devastated . . . We were willing to dialogue, to make the work
[more] presentable; but we got the impression they just didn’t want to do business with Duncan Christian School.”
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The project had been incorporated into the course, so the marking scheme had to
be rejigged to make up for the lost work. Visscher noted that the school has
participated in other projects to beautify the city, such as one inviting
organizations to create banners to hang from lampposts.
“It’s certainly a strange way to treat young people who are trying to make a
difference. City council made zero communication with them. It’s very deflating,” added DCS development director Norm Sowden.
Mayor Phil Kent was embarrassed by the situation. Council, he said, was growing
increasingly uncomfortable with each successive mural. “There were no criteria around what subjects were chosen, the quality of the
work, preservation issues.” And then, there were people on council with “an artistic eye,” who “didn’t like all the dark blue” in the DCS mural.
Kent accepted council’s decision to approve no more murals until criteria had been worked out with the
Business Development Association. However, he tried – unsuccessfully – to get the decision amended to allow the DCS mural through first.
Lindsay Bakker said she’s “over it . . . But it would have been cool. We’d never done a mural.” However, she concluded, “These things happen.”
The young artist is looking forward to attending Nanaimo’s Vancouver Island University, where she hopes to combine her artistic interests
with cooking.
September 2009
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