What’s the story behind the new face of the Jasper Place Curling Club?
The JPCC Board of Directors and GM Cathy Craig see this spectacular, 180-foot-long, 14-foot-high wall mural as a defining feature of our club for many, many years to come.
Having such a high-calibre artwork on the club’s prominent north wall has been a vision of Cathy’s for almost a decade. Colin Vince, a long-time icemaker at the club, shared Cathy’s vision through those years when the club simply couldn’t afford a public work of art of this magnitude.
In a strange way, COVID-19 helped turn Cathy’s vision into reality. The plan was to have the mural as the finishing touch on the JPCC Building Project, announced several years ago. JPCC curlers will remember the raffle ticket drives held in 2020 and the updates offered throughout that curling season about plans for the building project.
COVID-19 came along, however, putting the building project on hold temporarily and interrupting the livelihoods of many people – including artists. Edmonton artist Jill Stanton, one of North American’s shining stars of public art murals, found she had a window in her work calendar – long enough for JPCC, with the help of a grant to offset costs, to hire Jill through July and August 2021 to design and paint the artwork. Jill has painted more than 60 murals throughout North America. We are proud of her successes and delighted with the unique mural she created for us.
Take a few minutes to stand back and appreciate the design. Jill was asked to represent curling and its history at JPCC in bold, unique ways while also representing the club’s neighbouring communities. The larger-than-life result reflects the club’s confidence in our future and invites friends, neighbours and would-be curlers into our house.
JPCC is now celebrating the mural as the official launch to the building project.
Check out the latest story about our amazing mural here
