Open letter to Mayor of Richmond and City Councillors:
Re: "Steveston mural to be painted over, possibly relocated"
I am writing to you regarding the news that the mural replica of John M. Horton’s Arrival of the S.V. Titania is going to be painted over. My heart shrank as I read this on Richmond News.
I am writing as an award-winning arts educator, painter, but most importantly, as a neighbour who has made Richmond home for the last seven years. I simply love Richmond and I admire enormously how much the City has cared about the Arts and the Artists.
The Richmond Art Gallery has nothing to envy the Vancouver Art Gallery. The new Richmond Arts Centre Annex is a leading facility in Arts Education. New community centres, swimming facilities, parks, public gardens... Richmond provides quality of life to all its diverse neighbours.
Public art brings neighbours together. The mural replica of John M. Horton’s Arrival of the S.V. Titania is one of these examples of outstanding public art and undoubtedly one of Richmond's highlights.
It is a pure delight, an inspiration and a unique opportunity for people to time travel. It is so unusual to have a mural of such size, quality and mastery in the heart of Steveston (or anywhere!). Its colour palette and composition also contributes to our mental health.
But also... inadvertently, as visitors, tourists and locals walk by, this mural sparks their imagination and interest in Richmond's history.
To paint over a mural is akin to killing a living creature.
Can you imagine painting over The Last Supper, a fresco that is also decaying? You might think that there is no comparison, but I disagree.
If we do not care about this mural, if we paint over it, we will destroy not just a mural, but a part of Richmond's identity, culture, history and legacy. When we destroy art, we will kill a part of what makes us human.
Steveston has already been the centre of horrendous historical wrongdoings.
Let's not add one more chapter to be horrified about in a hundred years from now. Future generations will be devastated to learn that this mural was painted over on purpose.
Recently I read that a Vancouver historical building is in such decay that needs to be demolished due to safety concerns.
Our decaying mural is not endangering anyone's safety, it is not collapsing on anyone.
It is true that sadly the mural is peeling off. If it cannot be mended/fixed, moved or protected with some sort of transparent surface, let it decay and fade away instead of painting it over.
Please, mayor and councillors, you have the power and the golden opportunity to set an example in support of the arts. I appeal to your sensibility and to the inner child in you. Please preserve this mural for posterity.
Do not destroy art. 2024 has been too depressing already.
Bea Martin
Richmond
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