聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 There are spaces right here in your hometown that you have NEVER seen.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Oh you may have walked right past them. You may even have looked right AT them from time to time. But, you've never seen these spaces, because as far as you were concerned, there was nothing to see. These are the blank walls and abandoned buildings, the spaces that have been overlooked and often left empty.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Fortunately, there are people in the world like Josh Goff. Josh looks at empty walls and broken, neglected buildings...and sees the opportunity to make them beautiful. He has just completed his latest project, a mural that he was commissioned to paint on the north wall of the Main Museum Building in Kipling. The mural depicts a steam-powered train moving through a prairie landscape.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Josh says that the initial conversation that led to the mural's creation happened about a year ago.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淟orne Rygh approached me through the Cathedral Arts Festival. The Cathedral area in Regina is an area where there are lots of murals. Lorne and I spoke through emails numerous times. He showed me several different images and gave me so much information. I really appreciated having the chance to work with him on this.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The 35-year-old says that his ability to paint murals grew out of his work as a Graffiti Artist.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 didn't go to art school. Instead, I taught myself. I was fortunate though, to have really great artists around me that used to be the kid that was going out at night and 'tagging'. I got into trouble for that. But, as I've gotten older, I've changed the way I think about a lot of things. I still work as a Graffiti Artist. My focus now is to take a space that people don't use or care about anymore and make it beautiful.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Josh explains that creating the mural in Kipling presented some very specific challenges.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 use a particular type of spray-paint that I special order in. But, even though I'm using good quality paint, there are things about this wall that make it tricky to paint. For example, you can see that the wall is corrugated. That means that, when you try to paint a straight line, you have to be careful聽 to account for the rise and fall of the ridges on the wall.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As he's worked on the mural, Josh has had the opportunity to gain a better sense of what small-town life in Saskatchewan truly means. These insights give him a great deal of personal satisfaction.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚'm a city boy. But, my grandpa grew up in Wawota. He never talked much about what life was like in a small town. So, being here has allowed me to gain a better understanding of what it's like living in a small town. I've been staying with the Bachtold's...which has been great. I've also really appreciated it when people have taken the time to stop and tell me how much that they like the mural. That's actually the really nice thing about a project like this. I get to talk to people living in the community.鈥�
