IN THE BIG PICTURE, THIS WAS SPECIAL

The summer of 2018 will be remembered as the “Summer of Murals,” not only for the Beltline and Northern Hills projects but for several others.

The Downtown West community initiated a mural program with two provocative pieces on the sides of buildings (two more are in progress), and Calgary Municipal Land Corp. commissioned a mural for the 4th Street S.E. underpass linking East Village to Stampede Park.

It will be interesting to see how all of these murals age. Will they become valued community icons or will they just quietly fade away?

While some public art receives a negative reaction from the public, all of the murals have been well received by their community. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here — i.e., let the community initiate and manage the public-art program.

I truly hope BUMP, NHMP and the Downtown West mural projects meet a better fate than previous attempts in Calgary to use murals and public art to create a sense of community.