The Boissevain-Morton Arts Council has brought it down to the final few for their newest outdoor art murals – the original telephone building and the two water towers.  

The town of Boissevain is well-known for its collection of wall murals throughout the town as its outdoor art gallery, sharing the history of the area in a bright and unique way.

Arts Council Chair, Lisa Heide, says they were very pleased to receive close to 20 submissions between the two projects.  "You always hope for even one or two so that you have a choice, but there's some really, really good art that came in so it's not an easy decision!"

"The call for submissions has just closed for both of those, so we are now in the process of going through the submissions which we've got lots of for both projects, deciding on our top 3 and having discussions with artists."

A total of seven artists submitted their ideas and artwork for the new mural that is to be painted on Boissevain’s original telephone operator exchange building  Heide says the theme of that particular outdoor mural, Communication through the Ages, stems from the many changes in communication over the course of Queen Elizabeth's 70 year reign.  Granting came through federal funding to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.

Of the two projects, the most difficult is the two water towers which stand some 100 feet high.  She says the design is certainly the biggest factor in choosing the selected artist, but they also have to take into consideration the level of difficulty with this project.  

"Definitely, people who are comfortable with going up and having all their safety training lined up.  Actually we have quite a few artists lined up who have applied who are comfortable with it and have all their licensing in place.  But, obviously the design is number one."

"But, honestly I can't even fathom it!" laughs Heide.  "The surface you're working with is difficult as we have to do some clear coating on the rust and with the curve, plus you're dealing with the elements of wind.   I think, honestly, the hardest thing is going to be getting 4 or 5 days in a row with no wind, to send the artists up there.  So, we're hoping for a really calm week in August!"

"We'll hopefully have an answer for both of those projects over the next couple of weeks, to have our designs picked out and our artists picked out, and start moving forward with those," she adds.  "Everyone is excited!"