Sherbrooke’s“gorge”ous new mural is ready
Wednesday was the last day of work for artists Vincent Arnold and Boris Biberdzic on the new graffiti mural commissioned by the city of Sherbooke on the water tower in the Magog River Gorge. Created over the course of seven days by the two Sherbrooke natives using a combination of spray cans and paint rollers, the artwork is meant to highlight the city’s historic ties to its rivers and to hydroelectricity.
“It is through the coming together of these two rivers that Sherbrooke was created,” Arnold said, explaining that the mural shows a cityscape between two rivers in human form that represent the Saint-francis and Magog rivers. The two river figures hold up a light bulb that is symbolic of the power the city has derived from its rivers over the years.
Although they both live in Montreal at the moment after having completed studies in Graphic Design at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), both Arnold and Biberdzic are Sherbrookeborn and feel strong links to the community. The two have recently contributed to a number of public art projects in the city including the mural on the side of the Partage Saint-francois Building and the art wall that has been erected on Wellington Street South. Their new mural covers two thirds of the base of the water tower, up to a height of eight feet, and is best viewed from the walking path in the gorge itself, accessible by the stairs next to the Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts on Dufferin Street.