New Mural in Vegreville Depicts Ukrainian Embroidery

New Mural in Vegreville Depicts Ukrainian Embroidery

Rosanne Fortier - News Correspondent

A new mural now appears on the corner of 50 Street and 50 Avenue in downtown Vegreville.

Artist Carly Gordon was commissioned by the Town of Vegreville to paint the mural.

Carly said she was born in northern Ontario, grew up as a kid in Saskatoon and she moved back to Alberta in 2017, and currently lives in Edmonton.

She has been painting and doing artwork for over 11 years and has been a full time artist for the last three years.

“I had the idea in June of this year and sent my application in then. Since then I have put in time to create the designs for the field and the sky that is typical of my artwork.”

The new mural.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

When asked about the process, Carly replied, “Initially the idea was to use different fabrics as the rolling hills of a field, and from there it developed into designs based off of Ukrainian Embroidery. I gathered inspiration by visiting the Vegreville and Mundare museums and taking images of embroidery that are housed there.

I then developed the designs and stencils digitally. I chose a variety of embroidery work to base the patterns off of, and thought it would be a modern take on a recognizable craft. The choice to use stencils was for painting practicality! I wanted the designs to be precise and cohesive on such a big wall,” stated Gordon.

“What is original about the art is that it relates to Ukrainian culture,” stated Allen Dubyk, a member of the Vegreville Tourism Advisory Board who represents Mundare and surrounding area.

L-R Carly Gordon with Grace Box.

(Rosanne Fortier/Photo)

“While many of the shapes and colours are seen and used often, every piece of embroidery is different because every hand creating it is different”. The same is true for art. Many people create, and each set of hands is different in that,” stated Dubyk.

Carly added that, “My partner who helped me is Grace Box. She is my fiancé and helped as mural assistant during the week but her career is in nursing. We hope to do more murals together!”

Carly hopes the mural will bring joy to people who walk and drive by her art installation.