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CBC
07-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Saint John taking steps to protect public art following destruction of pedway mural
After a mural in a pedway connecting Saint John's city hall and Market Square was destroyed, the city is taking steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. The city's new direction on public art comes after the loss of the mural, called Nest, in the Saint Patrick Street pedway. Painted by well-known New Brunswick artist Deanna Musgrave, it was damaged by water after a ceiling pipe froze and split because of cold weather, a staff report said. The city tore it down after becoming aware of the damage. By the time Musgrave learned her work had been affected by a leak, it was already gone with nothing left to salvage, according to the city. Art, commissioned by the city and that are part of the city's art bank are given certain protections, such as standard maintenance and insurance. This wasn't the case for Musgrave's mural. Now, art that hasn't been commissioned by the city will no longer be installed in public, city-owned spaces, the city says. "The city has hundreds of pieces of artwork, whether it's murals, or statues, or paintings hung up or placed in city buildings, on city property all throughout the city," said David Dobbelsteyn, Saint John's director of growth and community support services. "But this piece wasn't commissioned by the city, which is what caught the city a little off guard when the department was dealing with it." Dobbelsteyn said the mural was a "collaborative gift" to the city from the artist and the company that co-owns the pedway, the Hardman Group, but not being a part of the city's art bank meant it had no insurance protection. The city will also discourage art installations in spaces that may pose infrastructure risks. "We had this unfortunate experience where this beautiful mural had to be removed because the infrastructure above it got damaged by natural causes," said Dobbelsteyn. "We want public art ... But we need to be a little more careful about where those are placed, so it may not be on ceilings or walls where there's infrastructure." Musgrave said she wishes she had been informed sooner by the city about the problem. To address that, the city plans to hire a new arts and culture co-ordinator to address communication failings and it plans to update its arts and culture policy. The current policy, the staff report says, does not provide strong provisions for commissioning, installing or maintaining art. Dobbelsteyn said the city intends to adopt a new policy in 2026. A policy change is an opportunity for the city to consult with local artists, including Musgrave. Artist applauds city staff, leaders Musgrave said following the mural's removal, Mayor Donna Reardon called her to apologize. Reardon also apologized publicly at council. "It means a lot to me that the city, the council and the mayor are trying to make this right in the ways that are available to them," Musgrave said. "It means a lot to me that the sacrifice of Nest is going to lead to better cultural policy for the city." Musgrave said she hopes her experience teaches others the value of public art. "I encourage citizens to just walk through the pedway now that it is a white ghost of what is left, and just see how that feels in your body," Musgrave said. "And to remember how it felt to walk through that headway with the blue and the clouds and the birds and that imaginary space and how it's different now that it's that whitewashed ghost." Dobbelsteyn said that there are many murals in the city that are not a part of the city's art bank but are still significant. "We're going to tread more cautiously whenever any contractors are having to do work in and around those, regardless of whether the artwork is part of the city's art bank or not," he said.
CBC
18-02-2025
- General
- CBC
Destruction of pedway mural left Saint John artist feeling like her 'heart was ripped out'
In 2017, for three straight months, New Brunswick artist Deanna Musgrave woke up in the middle of the night to paint the ceiling and doorway of the Saint Patrick Street pedway in Saint John. From 3 a.m. until mid-morning — the best time to paint a high-traffic area — she laboured over the intricate birds and optical illusions intertwining on the window-surrounded ceiling that would later become the mural called Nest. So it came as a surprise to Musgrave last week when her husband told her the ceiling had been ripped out. "I just said, we have to go right away," Musgrave said, recalling the moment. "I walked in and it was like the skin had been ripped off and all I could see were the bones, and it was just gone. "All of it was gone, except for the entryway. And it's like my heart was ripped out." Musgrave said she got in touch with the city to find out why she wasn't contacted and what happened to her artwork. That was when she learned there was a water leak in the ceiling of the pedway that connects Market Square to City Hall. "Water leaks can be in one spot, and you could cut that out … and even if it was indeed a rainstorm, you'd be surprised by how art can be conserved," Musgrave said. "And even if it really was to be all destroyed, I should have been given the respect — respect is the word here — to go and cut out the birds that were dedicated to people." Shortly after seeing the torn-out ceiling, Musgrave took to social media, where her posts have resonated with the community and other artists. Musgrave said people on social media have told her the leak started on Feb. 4, and she wonders why she wasn't contacted at that point to try to preserve the artwork. In an email, Erin White, a spokesperson for the City of Saint John, said "it is with deep regret" that the city was unable to salvage the mural, which was a gift from Musgrave and the Hardman Group to the city, "due to extensive water damage caused by a broken ceiling drain." "The damage rendered the ceiling tiles unsalvageable and posed a public health hazard, necessitating the immediate removal of the damaged tiles," the email read. Julie Whitenect, the executive director of ArtsLink N.B., said she shares the community's feeling that this is a huge loss for the city, pointing to the number of shares and posts online. She said she hopes it will lead to positive policy development for the protection of public art. And while Whitenect said she understands not everything can be saved, she said this should be discussed before a project begins, rather than something that happens after an incident. "If there is a point in which the thing cannot be continued, there should still be a discussion with the artists about maybe we want to document it one last time before this is taken down," said Whitenect. "Or if it's an installation of work, there may be ways to save it, or parts of it instead of it being gone completely." Musgrave said the mural project began in early 2017, when a member of the Hardman Group and the North Wharf Cultural Association approached her and asked her to do a large work on the doorway entering the pedway. She said yes, as long as she was allowed to do the ceiling, as well, at no extra cost to them. A work of that nature costs about $35,000 to $60,000, said Musgrave, but it was her gift to the city and the community. The mural included birds, totalling 150 wings, to represent 150 years of Canada, with each bird dedicated to a community member and their story, said Musgrave. That led up to a Canadian flag before fading into a pride flag, which from the other direction looks like a peace flag. From there, the painting was an optical illusion with the Northern Lights leading into the mouth of a baleen whale. During the later morning hours that Musgrave painted the mural, she said people would come up to her and talk to her about the painting. She said it connected with a lot of the community. "I think that's why it's such a loss," she said. "We should always protect our art, but, you know, there's certain murals that become landmarks and part of our community history, and this was one of them." Musgrave said she's been touched by how many people have called her and offered their condolences. Groups and individuals in Saint John have also shared Musgrave's posts with messages of support. "It's not just like a gift you give to someone else, like at Christmas or something — it's a formal gift of public art to a city," she said. "How our city treats those gifts is a reflection of our culture.
