Historic Truro sketched to life
Art exhibit underway at Truro Library
TRURO — An exhibit at the Truro Library sees some of the town’s architecture revitalized in detailed sketches drawn by a Nova Scotia artist.
Minette Murphy is an architectural student and artist, originally from Halifax. Last summer, Murphy's drawings of Truro’s historic architecture were compiled in a book written by Joseph M. A. Ballard, and titled Sketches of Historic Truro.
After the book was published, the Colchester East Hants Public Library reached out to Murphy to see about an exhibit of the artwork in the downtown Truro location. It opened on Jan. 3 and will be displayed for all to see on the second floor until Feb. 22.
“I really like buildings, especially heritage buildings. In Halifax, a lot of the pretty, old buildings are being torn down, so I was just trying to document them before they would go,” Murphy said of previous work in the Nova Scotia capital.
While Truro’s buildings are often preserved, some have been demolished — one of which was torn down after Murphy had completed her drawing.
“Truro has so many beautiful, old buildings, and so many of them are still around,” said Murphy.
“I hope they have more staying power in Truro because the community seems to really appreciate their buildings. But who knows, maybe it’ll act as a historical document in the long term.”
Murphy’s typical process for sketching a building is to sit in front of it and start drawing. For this project, Murphy decided to take multiple photos from different angles of the building they wanted to sketch.
When Murphy started, the original plan was to focus on the sketches during evenings and weekends. However, to get them done at a faster pace, the artist decided to bunker down at their grandmother’s old house in Meteghan.
“I didn’t see any other human, I was just there, with no internet, listening to pre-downloaded audiobooks,” Murphy laughed. “That’s how I got the bulk of it done.”
Murphy managed to draw over 90 sketches for the book. About half that amount is on display at the Truro Library.
"We had a copy of their book," said Lesley Brann, head of circulation and adult services at the Colchester-east Hants Library. "It was quite popular with people in the community, and we thought that it would make a wonderful exhibit.
"It's been wonderfully recieved by the community. Lots of people spending time looking at the buildings, picking them out. Talking about memories of particular buildings, one's they might have lived in," Brann added.
Despite the amount of work it took, Murphy felt rewarded by just how fun Truro’s architecture was to draw.
“I really like ornate buildings. The Victorian style, the turrets (small towers). Truro just has such a good collection. When I was drawing, I could just see different patterns, different styles, and it just so happened to be a lot of the styles that I enjoy drawing.”
Though Murphy’s studies may take them elsewhere, they’ll always have a fondness for sketching historical buildings.
“I really enjoyed this process. As I’m finishing up my Masters, the next step for me is to apply to architecture jobs and get into a firm and get more into that sort of thing, but I’m always happy to do house portrait commissions.”
Murphy is currently selling some of the artwork via thehouseportraitist. bigcartel.com. Murphy can also be contacted via email at minettemurphy@hotmail.com for art inquiries.