villagevibe April 2011
News and views from the heart of Fernwood
Fernwoodians: Paint your poles! Pole painting proliferates in May
Pole Painting 101 Check with your neighbours (you don’t want to step on any toes...)
›› Josh-ooh-ahh Schmidt
W
hat is it that makes a pole great? Is it the fact that it supports the cables that delivers energy to our homes? To Beth Threlfall, the poles are not mere infrastructure, but an opportunity for anyone to express their artistic creativity. If you walk down Fernwood Road you’ll see all manner of poles turned into cylindrical canvases, painted with a myriad of designs featuring rocket ships, sunflowers, stars, totems, and animals. And this is just the start! But before we look to the future, let us look at the past... Beth painted her first pole in 2008 after noticing how bare they looked. As an artist living within the artistic community that Fernwood is, she thought they should reflect its denizens. Inspired by “The Great Neighbourhood Book”, she decided to paint the pole in front of her house on Fernwood Road. Calling BC Hydro to make sure she was in the clear, Beth found out it wouldn’t interfere with worker safety and that they actually had NO budget to repaint the poles themselves... she would be doing THEM a favour! Soon bright sunflowers graced her new canvas, and the response was incredible. “Cars honked their horns as they drove by, neighbours taking a walk asked to have their own poles done... it was great!” Soon after, in 2009, Beth painted over 20 poles around George James Elementary school in celebration of their 100th anniversary, and then decided to let others know about the concept by getting a table at Fernfest where she encouraged others to do their own! Well, how could we ignore such an awesome spirit of funkadelic creativity? In short, we couldn’t, which is why we are holding the Great Fernwood Pole Painting Project. That’s right... stake your claim on a fresh pole that needs some soul and get ready, because on Saturday May 28th
Create your design and follow Beth’s simple rule: “Go BIG, go BOLD, and keep it simple!” 1. Remove any nails, staples, or other protrusions (needle nose pliers recommended) 2. Cover the ground with a tarp, old newspapers, or other material in case your paint spills or splatters 3. Prime the pole with latex housepaint (Beth recommends black to make colours pop!) 4. Paint it! 5. Clean-up the site 6. Enjoy! ☺
it’s time to get your paint on! Join in on the fun, and paint one of the over 250 poles in Fernwood, and as an added bonus it will act as a great landmark when friends are visiting from out of town. In fact, we at NRG are going to create the “Gateways to Fernwood” at the intersection of Bay Street & Fernwood Road and
Pandora & Fernwood Road. If you have a design in mind, jot it down, and it could be the one heralding people into our hood for years to come! If you want to get involved, learn more about this project, or if you have design ideas, please email: polepainting
Buzz
Buzz
Included with this issue:
The Common Springs to Life page 3
Howie’s Farewell page 7
Neighbourhood Visioning Forum 2011
Some other tidbits to note are that maintenance is required 1–2 times a year, and should be done when there is a stable temperature of 10° Celsius so the paint dries quickly. It takes about two hours from start to finish to paint a blank pole. Stencils are a great to save time and make the activity fun for all ages, and if you use a sponge to put the paint no experience or skill is necessary. Beth even made her sponges from old couch cushions, so get creative!
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