The Gimli Art Club’s seawall gallery committee threw a little party for generous donors who gave them $6,000 to help maintain the seawall murals and publish another seawall art book.
Merryl-Lee Mercier, who is chair of the seawall committee, said they were left practically speechless by the generosity of Greg and Susan Clark, Robert Repski and Jim Boyko, none of whom live in Gimli but enjoy the seawall murals. The committee had no idea how much the donation was going to be and when they found out, they were so excited.
“We’re overwhelmed by the generosity of these people who stepped forward to make such a significant donation to the seawall,” said Mercier. “We also want to thank the rural municipality of Gimli for facilitating this donation.”
Because the municipality is the owner of the non-profit art club, it accepted the donation on behalf of the club, provided a tax receipt to the donors and transferred the funds to the committee.
There are 69 murals painted on the Gimli Harbour seawall. They depict the history of Gimli and the Interlake. The murals, painted by members of the art club, take a beating from the elements and have to be periodically repaired.
“It takes the serious dedication of a handful of Gimli Art Club artists to keep these murals in prime condition. The artists fight damage done by weather, waves, algae and time in an attempt to turn a concrete wall into something beautiful to look at while also providing a peek at Gimli history,” said Mercier.
Robert Repski lives in Winnipeg and donated $2,000 to the seawall.
“I appreciate the art on the Gimli seawall and I decided to make a donation to support that,” said Repski.
He said he also appreciated the little celebration the seawall committee held for the donors and enjoyed meeting some of the artists and club members.
“They invited us to come out and we had a nice get-together,” he said. “We looked at all the art at the store [Gimli Art Club gallery store] and on the pier and we had lunch.”
Gary and Susan Clark, who also live in Winnipeg and donated $2,000, have been visiting friends in Spruce Sands, north of Gimli, for years and years, and they also love spending time in Gimli.
“I enjoy going out there. We’ve been going there to see our friends for years and years or we just go out for the day, and I’ve always enjoyed walking on the Gimli boardwalk and the seawall and going to all the different shops in town and having lunch. It’s terrific,” said Gary Clark.
Clark said he can see the degradation of the murals from the elements and that he and his wife, along with the two other donors, decided to “chip in some money” to help repair and preserve them.
Jim Boyko, who lives in B.C. also donated $2,000, said it was exciting to meet some of the seawall artists and members of the club and hear about their projects.
“Keep up the good work,” said Boyko, “and we look forward to seeing the results when they’re done.”
Mercier said some of the murals on the seawall have had to be replaced and some altered during repairs if the original artist is not available and his or her “artistic style” cannot be replicated. Murals such as the walking geese mural – which was actually painted to serve as a test for a new sealant – will be moved down the seawall to new spot under the life preserver.
The seawall committee has a sub-committee that votes on what murals can be painted on the wall and Mercier said she handles all complaints regarding the seawall – including people upset by the removal of a mural or “accidents.”
“We were trying out new sealants, all these different things to try to keep the murals on the wall. One sealant made everything very shiny and somebody suggested we use a matte finish sealant. We did that and it turned the brown’s green and other colours. One of our youngest artists, Alec [Baldwin] had his buffalo turn green,” said Mercier. “Over the past four or five years, we’ve tried a number of different sealants. We started with a marine sealant and it made no difference. We think we’ve now found one; although it’s shiny when put on in the fall, by the next year it loses its shine. We’re hoping this will work.”
This summer Mercier will be painting an Indigenous scene on the seawall, and new Ukrainian and RCMP murals will be painted by other artists.
Mercier said the $6,000 donation will allow the committee to publish a supplementary copy of the seawall gallery book that was originally published in 2009 and is available at the art club’s store.
“Occasionally, someone buys the seawall book and says their favourite mural is not in the book,” said Mercier. “This donation will allow us to have a supplementary copy published that contains [the missing] murals and will be available next year. So a huge thank you goes out to these incredible [donors] who love to walk the seawall.”
