Members of the Gimli Art Club were kept busy over the course of the summer with the restoration of some of the murals that grace the Gimli Harbour seawall.
The murals depict the history and culture of Gimli and the Interlake and pay homage to the region’s significant events.
It may be a Sisyphean task the artists have to undertake every year after water, wind-blown sand, snow and ice chip away at murals, but it’s one they love.
Merryl-Lee Mercier, who is the club’s seawall gallery chairperson, said there are a number of restorations in the queue, and they’ve made some headway this year given the availability of their sanctioned restorers, many of whom are seniors.
“Eight seawall artists, most of whom are senior citizens, have spent the last four months restoring their own murals, as well as other murals that needed restoration,” said Mercier, who was on the seawall last weekend working on replacing her Indigenous-themed mural. “Jackie Goodman, who is one of the artists and one of the original members who worked with the federal government to get permission to put the murals on the concrete breakwater, has six murals on the seawall and restores them every year. The original artists had no idea how much maintenance would be involved to keep the murals in good condition. The sun, waves and ice are very hard on them.”
There are currently 69 murals running along the 977-foot-long concrete harbour that protects sailboats, commercial fishing boats and research and rescue craft that use the federal harbour. The art club started painting murals on the wall in 1997 to showcase the region’s history. They include Aboriginal culture, farming, fish and wildlife, Icelandic settlement and famous events such as the Gimli Glider.
Club president Erika Hanneson has several murals on the wall, including one depicting the Gimli Art Club, which is located across from the Lakeview Resort, and Alec Baldwin, who won gold medals at this year’s Special Olympic Games in Germany, specializes in painting animals, including a mural of his well known Gimli Dog Party.
Mercier, who has a barn quilt mural on the wall, is working on replacing two Indigenous-themed murals that she had painted years ago based on photos another art club member [Raven] took at a powwow in Fisher River Cree Nation.
“The two depicting powwow dancing were originally put on in 2018 and were severely damaged by the high water and ice. They had to be removed,” she said. “I found this devastating as each mural took a summer to complete. The intent has always been to restore them at their original place on the seawall as they depict one of the three original groups of people who cooperated to found Gimli.”
The first mural shows two young girls following an adult powwow dancer.
“Raven took a picture of these two little girls at a powwow – she had permission – and I fell in love with them. What I love about them is they have blue jeans on and flip flops and it looks like grandma put the jingles on their dresses. It just spoke to me,” said Mercier. “Then I went through all of Raven’s pictures and I picked this male dancer to be part of the scene because I love the ribbons and the colours. He’s so dynamic.”
The second mural, which shows a male powwow dancer, will be replaced next summer.
In addition to restoring the murals, members of the art club’s executive, potters and seawall artists combined forces over the course of three weeks this summer to re-paint the white borders around the murals. And the art club is trying out different mediums to see whether they can better withstand the damaging force of the elements.
The gallery is a real draw. As the artists work on the seawall murals, visitors from near and far stop to chat and ask them about the scenes depicted and the artistic process, said Mercier.
“All the seawall artists particularly enjoy talking to the tourists who come from all over the world,” she said.
