PA in PA, part 1, Echo Et Cetera

There is, according to local legend, a mural project in Port Alberni.

(Then there are those like one person I talked to about this, who have lived here all their lives, and had no knowledge at all about the murals around town.)

There are, indeed, various pieces of public art around the town.  However, unlike Chemainus, there is no particular plan or project intending to promote, or direct, such murals, nor is there any particular theme or plan to such art in Port Alberni.  (Well, here is one "origin" story.)

Nor are all of the murals, murals.  There are a number of murals, but there also are a number of pieces of art that are considered part of the project, that are not murals.  And a number of the murals are not particularly mural-like.  So, it might be more accurate to say that there is a good deal of public art in Port Alberni.

Valley Vibe magazine, which is the local arts periodical, published an issue dedicated to the murals in its winter 2023 issue (that is, the first issue in 2023).  Unfortunately, the magazine was not particularly helpful in describing where the pieces of art *were*, unless you already knew where they were.  So, I am attempting to rectify that shortcoming with this piece, giving a rough list, and some pictures, but more in regard to pictures in context and situ, rather than pictures of the artworks themselves.  The intent here is to give directions as to where you can find different pieces of art, if you want to make a tour.  (As an offshoot of this project, I'm also offering to guide walking tours for various groups that might be interested in such an event or activity.)

The Valley Vibe list, which comprised nineteen pieces, was kind of interesting not only in non-mural items that were included in the list, but also in terms of very similar pieces of art, which were *not* included in the list.  I will point out some of the additional pieces in here as well.  In order to give the broadest possible reference, I will refer to the items that the Valley Vibe issue described by the number they were assigned in the magazine as, for example, VV 18 for for "The Totem Pole."  (We'll get there, don't worry.)

The Valley Vibe list was also not particularly helpful in terms of making a circuit and reducing the total trip time, in case you wanted to take in all of the pieces of art.  Therefore, I won't follow the sequence of their list, but more of a geographic sequence and series, which allows for a single walk, drive, or circuit, around the town in order to cover as much of the artwork as possible in a reasonably short distance or time.

Since we are heading up Burde, let's start just a little further back, and note a reference that might be either a celebration of the local wildlife, or a warning about it:

(I must admit, every time I come around this corner I get a bit of a start ...)

Nearby is a nod to Port Alberni's industrial heritage.

We start our walking tour walking east up Burde Street.  Yes, we are heading into the middle of nowhere, and we will have to come back the same way.  That’s just the way it is, and this particular mural (or, actually, series of murals), is not on the way to anywhere else, or from anywhere else, so we might as well start here as anywhere else.  (Besides, this is where I live.)  We are headed to Arbutus Drive, and Fernwood Lane, and Griffin Park (VV 17).  These murals were done by students at ADSS (no, not the old one where *I* live, the actually currently existing one where students go), and tell a sweetly simple story of a baby otter, who gets separated from, and then reunited with, his family.  I suspect that you would have to know First Nations legends and characters to fully understand everything that goes on, but it is cute.  I wonder, looking at the series of pictures, whether individual students got individual panels to illustrate, or that individual students got individual characters to illustrate, and created those characters on each successive panel.  There are some differences in the styles of the characters, but the individual characters seem to have consistent styles throughout the series of pictures.

This also might be the time to point out that there are certain artworks that are artistic, but definitely don’t make it onto the Valley Vibes list.  There are, for example, some garbage cans, which were probably my made by the metal work shop at the high school, and decorated by high school students.  They may not be *great* art, but they are art.

Next, we come to come back out down Burde Street (noting a fish down an alley on the way)

 and it probably makes the most sense to head north up 16th and Woods and Wallace to Echo Centre, in order to pick up a few artworks that are also somewhat out-of-the-way in a great circle route around the town.  At the Kiwanis Park there is another example of the garbage cans

and, nearby, a simple but striking piece

Slightly more hidden is a birdhouse

Just around the corner, this lady has, despite limited space in a rental situation, created a community-building porch, a garden, and created some lovely art, as well.

You might have to take a jog down Redford to catch a nod to the days when Port Alberni was, itself, a tourist destination:

Then you might have to jog *quite* a ways down to tenth, to find this hidden in a back alley near the main intersection

and this is even more hidden

In between them, you might want to visit the police detachment:

A little farther along Woods, a series of faux birdhouses that aren't exactly public, but visible

and another very nice birdhouse that might be slightly more functional.

As we go by Wood Elementary, there are some butterflies that are colourful from the street

but much more lovely from the school side

and, a bit further down the fence, there is a school of fish.

Nearby, another in our garbage can collection, at the Gyro Skate Park.

Interrupting our study of garbage cans, we head north to Roger and east to the Multiplex and North Island College.  At NIC, we find the last of the "Volunteer Spirit" mosaics, this one about the future:

I'm big on volunteerism, so I'm really keen on these.  Almost next door, at the Multiplex (but rather hidden away, from the casual searcher) is the present:

There are a couple of garbage cans on either side of the Echo Centre: one slightly off the south east corner

and another directly behind the centre to the north.

The Echo Centre itself is home to at least three pieces of art, two of which made it into the Valley Vibes list.  One is mounted on the outside of the museum wing (facing south), and appears to be a kind of representation or reproduction of petroglyphs in the area, such as the ones at Sproat Lake (VV 19).

The other on the Valley Vibes list is not, actually, a mural, but a wood carving of rather large size, and is mounted in the atrium which holds the entrances to the museum, the library, and the recreation centre (VV 15).

However, just outside that atrium, mounted on the west wall of the museum wing, is the first of the  "Volunteer Spirit" mosaics, "Past."

These are not on the Valley Vibes list, and I’m *really* not sure why not.

If we then head up towards Roger Street (passing another nice example of art, which was probably not included simply because it is a logo for the Sunny Apartments)

at the intersection of Tenth and Roger, on the west side of a little strip mall, is another, and possibly most Port-Alberni-ish image in the series, that of the Martin Mars flying boat/water bomber (VV 13).

The Mars bombers Have been based at Sproat Lake for decades, and are definitely part of the icons in the town.  The Junior B hockey team in town is called the Port Alberni Bombers, and a number of local artists, over the years, have done various representations of the Mars bombers in action, either picking up, or dumping loads of water

and it even makes an appearance in more than one of the other murals (VV 1).  There are, additionally, models of the Mars bombers that have been created and mounted around town.

(Okay, this one is a little suspect as to form, but I think the colouring is pretty indicative.)

Kitty-corner across the intersection of Roger and 10th, we have signage for the Jumping Slug Community Cyclery

and also West Coast Combat Sports

both of which, despite the commercial involvement, are worthy of inclusion not only due to proximity, but on artistic merit.  (The West Coast Combat Sports sign is also signed on the other side.)  (No, not of the wall, of the building.)

A bit of a ways south on Tenth, there's another piece that isn't exactly public, but visible, and a cheerful piece to end on.

And another, not public, but definitely art, and often seen in this vicinity.  If you manage to catch Robbie, get the background on the imagery, and the stories behind it (artist: Robbie Van).

This should be about eight kilometres and take about two hours.  A couple of other sections should be about two hours and five kilometres.  The whole thing would be about twenty kilometres, and take about eight hours.  (For those of you dismayed by those distances, my grandchildren could walk five kilometres and think nothing of it.)  (When they were *five* ...)

Public Art in Port Alberni, introduction and overview

https://fibrecookery.blogspot.com/2023/08/public-art-in-port-alberni-introduction.html