Neither the wind nor old brick walls with crumbling mortar could prevent artist Grant McLaughlin from updating one of Moose Jaw’s oldest murals.
From the last week of May and until the first weekend of June, McLaughlin worked to repaint the mural “Opening Day Parade,” located on the side of The Crushed Can Rec Room and Bar. Painted by community artist Gus Froese in 1990, the mural is one of the oldest in Moose Jaw.
McLaughlin and the mural committee decided it was time to rejuvenate the baseball mural since it is 30 years old, he explained. A mural usually needs a few touch-ups after 10 years, while it requires a little more care after 20 years since — similar to a house — the paint fades.
“At 30 years old, it’s pretty much outlived its life span without some type of major work,” he said. “I’ve watched (it) the last few years (and) done some touch-ups, but I was aware that it had really faded. Some of the original colours were even hard to figure out what they were.”
McLaughlin encountered some challenges while restoring the mural, such as the artwork’s age and the fact it was composed of multi-layer latex paint brushed on brick and mortar that is 107 years old. He knew that could lead to parts of the mural peeling off, while the surface would need more work for the new paint to take hold.
“I will say it’s one I really reluctantly worked on because it is likely the oldest, and it was done by a good friend, Gus Froese, and I love the look of that old brick,” he said.
The poor quality of the wall forced McLaughlin to scrape away most of the mortar. From that, he realized this would be a significant project. If money was available, he would have sandblasted the wall, repointed all the bricks with a similar style mortar and then repainted the same mural. However, he didn’t think it would have lasted due to the wall’s age.
That is why he waited until the last minute before he decided to repaint the mural on panels and then attach them to the wall. While it took him longer to recreate the mural, it also allowed him to be accurate and use bright colours.
Many murals that the municipal committee wants restored are being repainted on wood panels. This is because they are a more accessible surface on which to paint, last longer, require a coat of varnish about once a decade, and are easy to move if necessary.
The other challenge McLaughlin faced was the weather, specifically the wind, which made using a scaffold an adventure. However, he pointed out nothing would ever be accomplished in this province if people waited for the weather to co-operate.
McLaughlin took several pictures of the mural to guide him, while he also had the maquette design from Froese’s original painting to show him the shapes of the objects. However, not all the colours matched since some had faded and brush strokes differ between artists.
“(Froese) had a nice, controlled strokes (and) a nice blending technique that I probably don’t do the same,” said McLaughlin, adding restored murals will always look different from the original.
This refurbished mural could last 15 years before it requires any touch-ups, based on experience working with similar murals in Moose Jaw, said McLaughlin. The paint manufacturer recommends applying a layer of varnish every 10 years; if that happens, he doesn’t anticipate the paint fading too severely.
McLaughlin is satisfied with how the repainted mural turned out. To his eye, it looks like a fresher version.
“There’s probably some people who wonder about our mural program. This year isn’t going to be a tourist year, but (the mural committee) has added a lot to the downtown (over the years),” he added. “It’s still good to preserve some of the things that are interesting about our history, both for the visitors … but even for people who are here.
“I’m not sure what the future holds, but as long as I can get up and down the ladder, I’ll still help them out.”
