Resort Municipality Initiative: Downtown Mural (COMPLETE)

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Mural of swiss guides in Golden BC
The former Swiss Guides mural, painted in 1999.

It is time to say farewell to the current Swiss Guides mural in downtown Golden and watch as a new one emerges. On August 11, Ottawa-based muralist, Dominic Laporte and co-founder Anaïs Labrèque of Drift Mural Co. completed a new mural on the side of The 407 Boutique/Golden Dollar Store.

The former mural was painted in 1999 by Mokman (Mark) Chen and the late Greg Leckie to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Swiss guides coming to Golden. The new mural continues to honour the history of the Swiss guides, connecting Golden’s past to its present and celebrating the region’s natural beauty and rich cultural heritage. 

The creation of the mural was funded between Kicking Horse Culture and the Town of Golden through the Province of British Columbia’s Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI).

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mural in downtown golden
The new mural, painted in August 2023.

 

About the location

During the last week of July, local builder Ned Johnson of Innovation Building will install aluminum composite panels to the wall, allowing the old mural to live on underneath the new artwork. The composite panels were chosen for the wall after consulting with local masons and determining that the current brickwork would need substantial and prohibitive remedial work to prep the wall for painting. The composite panels will now allow the original mural to live on underneath the new mural. 

Laporte and Labrèque will be onsite painting the mural from August 2-15, 2023.

The Town of Golden and Kicking Horse Culture would like to thank John and Charlene Collison of The 407 Boutique/Golden Dollar Store for the continued use of their wall for the mural.

About the artist

Ottawa-based Drift Mural Co. was awarded the project. Dominic Laporte is a muralist and illustrator whose work combines traditional painting and mixed-media techniques. Over the past decade, Laporte has expanded his mural practice on an international level and developed a distinct style. He’s produced large-scale murals commissioned by Canada’s Museum of Science & Technology, Live Nation Canada, Street Art Toronto, The Toronto Raptors, Bank of Montreal, Adidas, The Canadian Medical Association, the City of Ottawa Light Rail Transit, and the Nelson International Mural Festival, among others.

Learn more about Drift Mural Co. and the artist.

About the selection process

Laporte’s submission was chosen by a selected jury of art representatives from the Golden community, following a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued by Kicking Horse Culture (KHC) in February 2023. 

The RFP process included reviewing the portfolios of about 200 practicing muralists in Canada to create a shortlist of artists to submit proposals, including two local artists. A total of five proposals were received. The selection jury was made up of the following local artists and community members: Regan Johnston (local artist), Jane Tevelein Doel (local artist), Jayne Baun (local artist), Lyuba Kirkova (local artist), and Brittany Newman (Golden Museum). The panel reviewed the proposals based on, relevance to the Swiss Guides heritage and Golden mountain culture; the artistic merit of the design; and the artist’s portfolio/ experience with similar projects.