BONNYVILLE – Local artists have the chance to leave their mark on downtown Bonnyville.
The Dove Centre has put a call out for artists to submit their design ideas for a mural that will be painted on the outside wall of the Bargain Boutique on main street.
Robert Goulet, Dove Centre interim CEO, said it’s part of their rebranding to reintroduce the organization to the community.
“It’s so that people are more aware of what we do by supporting people with disabilities,” he explained.
The only stipulation for the design is that it must include the centre's logo in the top left corner so judges can get a good visual of how the mural will look on the building. Artists of any age can participate, and they don’t have to be from Bonnyville either.
“We’re looking for any kind of style,” Goulet noted. “The more creative, the better. We’re not going to shoot anyone down. We’d like it to depict community, togetherness, and integration. It could be abstract or traditional.”
Submissions opened on March 27. There is no set deadline at this time, as Goulet said he knows the creative process takes time and doesn’t want to rush anyone.
The original plan was to reach out to the local high schools to have students come up with a design together but they had to revisit that idea after the coronavirus hit.
“I’m thinking we’ll probably get someone with a really good art background to head up a group of people who want to get together and paint it together. We’ll make a big community thing of it."
With people being forced to stay home, Goulet thought this was the perfect time to reach out to the art community.
“People are cooped up and looking for things to do, so we put the call out to artists everywhere."
Ensuring local residents can be involved with the mural builds on the Dove Centre's goal to strengthen relationships in town.
“We wanted to make our presence more felt. We have to do better at penetrating our community and building those partnerships. Our community has a great capacity to give and I think that we want to be able to share that with people,” Goulet expressed.
The Dove Centre has been a part of Bonnyville since they opened their doors in 1973. The organization supports adults with developmental disabilities by offering employment supports, community access, and leisure activities, among others. They also operate the Bargain Boutique and bottle depot in town.
Roughly a year and a half ago, they started the rebranding process in order to let the area know they’re so much more than what people think.
“I tell people I work at the Dove Centre and I get a lot of ‘oh, you’re the bottle depot.’ We’re really trying to get people to understand exactly what impact we have in our community,” Goulet said.
Once it’s safe to gather in large groups and the weather is nicer, a group of artists will come together to bring the chosen idea to life.
“I’m just hoping that people embrace it, get creative, and realize that the Dove Centre does some pretty incredible things,” Goulet expressed. “The human capacity out there is pretty awesome, and if people want to be part of a project that will be part of Bonnyville’s history for a long time we just want to give them that opportunity.”
Completed designs can be sent to Goulet at [email protected].
