Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Uncategorized · 1st February 2008
Mark Allan - CV Record
Mural could be on wall of Cumberland store in month.
A large and once-controversial mural depicting Cumberland history is expected to be returned to the public eye in about a month.
Wayne Procter, owner of the Cumberland General Store, hopes to have the colourful four-feet-high by 40-feet-wide mural mounted on the store’s west wall by early March, manager Brenda Levirs confirmed Wednesday.
The creation of renowned muralist Frank Lewis of Victoria will be lighted after dark, Levirs added.
Former store owner Hans Petersen, who commissioned the work, said recently the inclusion of then-King George Hotel owner Percy (Brownie) Brown offended some people, because they felt he wasn’t a part of local history since he was still alive at the time.
Showcase Festival borrowed the mural for a gala Nov. 18 to promote this year’s stage production of Dancing in the Coal Dust, the story of union activist Albert (Ginger) Goodwin, whom Lewis included prominently in the mural.
“We were thrilled with it, and I think our audience was, too,” Showcase managing director Vincent Dupuis said this week of the mural.
“It had a presence on the stage,” Dupuis said. “It’s a fairly powerful work.”
Dupuis noted the inclusion of coal baron Robert Dunsmuir as well as the Chinese and Japanese people who came like others to the bustling coal town near the end of the 19th century.
A large and once-controversial mural depicting Cumberland history is expected to be returned to the public eye in about a month.
Wayne Procter, owner of the Cumberland General Store, hopes to have the colourful four-feet-high by 40-feet-wide mural mounted on the store’s west wall by early March, manager Brenda Levirs confirmed Wednesday.
The creation of renowned muralist Frank Lewis of Victoria will be lighted after dark, Levirs added.
Former store owner Hans Petersen, who commissioned the work, said recently the inclusion of then-King George Hotel owner Percy (Brownie) Brown offended some people, because they felt he wasn’t a part of local history since he was still alive at the time.
Showcase Festival borrowed the mural for a gala Nov. 18 to promote this year’s stage production of Dancing in the Coal Dust, the story of union activist Albert (Ginger) Goodwin, whom Lewis included prominently in the mural.
“We were thrilled with it, and I think our audience was, too,” Showcase managing director Vincent Dupuis said this week of the mural.
“It had a presence on the stage,” Dupuis said. “It’s a fairly powerful work.”
Dupuis noted the inclusion of coal baron Robert Dunsmuir as well as the Chinese and Japanese people who came like others to the bustling coal town near the end of the 19th century.