Image: M. Vanden Bosch / PML

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Downtown murals

Downtown Chilliwack mural approval to return to public art committee

Jul 6, 2022 | 2:39 PM

CHILLIWACK — Portions of the downtown Chilliwack business landscape have morphed from what were once dreary, lifeless walls to a picturesque panorama of colour and artistic expression.

The aesthetic transformation of downtown is key to the upcoming Chilliwack Mural Festival on Saturday, August 20 when approximately 3,500 people are expected to attend the inaugural event.

Toward that end, Chilliwack City Council voted Tuesday (Jul. 6) to allocate $5,000 to the festival society to help boost the arts-driven exposition of talent from its community development initiative funding umbrella.

As part of the funding approval at Tuesday’s meeting, Councillor Bud Mercer clarified that it is no longer the Downtown Chilliwack Business Improvement Association that will vet and approve mural designs on walls.

Instead, responsibility will now revert back to the city-appointed Chilliwack Public Art Advisory Committee (CPAAC). The committee consists of two practicing artists, a community member at large, a member each from the Chilliwack Arts Council and Chilliwack Cultural Society boards, one council member, one city staff, and two art-related professionals like architects or designers.

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“Due to capacity reasons, the Downtown Chilliwack Business Improvement Association has asked that the City process and approve applications for downtown murals, as was done in previous years,” Chilliwack mayor Ken Popove said. “The City will continue to follow policy and past practice, which means that all mural applications must be submitted to the Public Art Advisory Committee, before coming to Council for approval. We thank all applicants for their continued support of public art in our community.”

Artist renderings will now be required prior to mural approval. Previously, artists were required to only submit their statement of intent and artistic style to a different committee unaffiliated with CPAAC.

“It’s a big change for us,” said Lise Oakley, volunteer co-director for the Chilliwack Mural Festival. “For us, it was a bit of a surprise. The big change for us is the artist renderings. In the long run, it’s advantageous as we do plan to potentially move out of the downtown corridor into key locations like Yarrow.”

The switch back to CPAAC actually frees up the mural festival society to go through one committee rather than two potential committees from the downtown business association and city of Chilliwack.

“If we do murals in Yarrow, it still has to go through CPAAC, but it’s better to go through one approval,” said Oakley, who shares the co-director role this year with Amber Price of The Book Man downtown. “It keeps the City of Chilliwack in the know. It’s really about building trust. There won’t be any surprises.”

The art advisory committee then sends recommendations to mayor and council for approval, which is usually straightforward.

“The City of Chilliwack is very supportive of it,” Oakley pointed out. “It’s essentially another layer. We haven’t had any murals that weren’t approved.”

The daylong mural festival features walking tours of the downtown, live roaming performances, and artists creating free-standing murals on plywood to give attendees a better view. A concert will be held in the Central Community Park the same day via the downtown business association.