Artistic ad becomes canvas for video art
IN THE SOIL: Arts festival kicks off this week

By MATTHEW VAN DONGEN

The St. Catharines Standard
Tuesday April 13 2010

Annie Wilson felt a brief pang of regret when she painted over the weight-lifting dog.

Ditto for the ice cream-eating cow.

"There was a moment when I thought, aw, I'm going to miss that muscular bulldog," said a laughing Wilson, who helped about a dozen volunteers whitewash over the well-known -- but not necessarily well-loved -- mural at the corner of St. Paul and James streets on the weekend.

"I might miss the cow, too. But most people seemed pretty excited about (the mural) disappearing. They were honking their horns and cheering us on while we painted."
The distinctive mural, which included weight-lifting people and animals, a dairy-loving cow and a cresting blue wave, has greeted downtown drivers and pedestrians for about seven years, looming colourfully over the site of the former Russell Hotel.

The artistic advertisement has now been replaced by a whitewashed brick wall, which will be used as a canvas for "video art" on display for the upcoming In the Soil arts festival, said Wilson, the event's co-founder.

Wilson said the massive wall is the perfect public space to make use of the festival's new large-scale video projector, which will be set up across the street inside the Scotiabank.

"This is going to allow us to do some large-scale, high-definition projections on public spaces downtown," she said. "We're pretty excited about it."

The first 12-metre-wide display will be Tuesday night, including a media installation by artist Ryan Rivando featuring a few historic images of the Russell Hotel, which was demolished in 1996.

Stephen Remus, director of the Niagara Artists Centre, suggested the move to the larger community canvas.

He's excited about the additional exposure the venue is sure to create. He won't shed any tears over the loss of the mural, either.

"This thing was there for so long and it was so ugly," Remus said. "We always hated it and we're happy to help get rid of it ... but we also appreciate the chance to use the space to promote new artists."

The group of NAC and festival volunteers got permission from property owner Jerry Kowal to scrub the space. Out of courtesy, they also checked with the creator of the cartoon muscle beach, fit-ness club owner John Fulton.

"Oh, listen, I'm not going to miss it," said Fulton, who commissioned the wall painting in 2003 as part of a "summer fun" event in the James Street lot.

To pump up business and attract a crowd, Fulton installed sand boxes, a beach hut, an outdoor workout area, basketball court and the thematic mural for a single summer season.

It turned out "pretty well," he said, "but it was a heck of a lot of work."

Fulton soon stopped renting the space, but the mural remained. He said he understands how the images may have confused passersby. The ice cream-eating cow, for example, was related to a Niagara-on-the-Lake ice cream shop that briefly set up during his summer fun event.

"Out of context, people were probably looking at it and thinking, 'What's that about?' " he said, laughing. "It worked for one summer gig, but if they can make good use of (the wall) and get local artists using it, I think that's great."

mvandongen @ stcatharinesstandard.ca

In the Soil

The official launch of In the Soil is Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Events continue at various downtown locations from April 15-24. For the schedule and more festival details, visit www.inthesoil.on.ca/schedule-2010.html.

Article ID# 2531742