Work has commenced on a new mural at the Ladysmith and District Credit Union, which is covering the old Path to a Cure painting.
New artwork on the wall in the lower parking lot will depict the history of the credit union, according to John de Leeuw, chief executive officer.
The old mural, which was on the wall for nearly 10 years, celebrated Tour de Rock, a cross-Island bike ride that raises money for cancer research. The credit union took donations from people to have a loved one’s name painted on a stone as part of the mural.
“The $50 donations were donated to the Tour de Rock; the credit union never kept any of that money and we paid to have the mural drawn and we paid every time a name went on the wall,” de Leeuw said.
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The tour used to stop at the parking lot, but changed locations for the Ladysmith stop a few years ago and de Leeuw said it has been years since a new name was requested to be on the wall. He decided to look at options for new artwork and started working with Kathleen Oliver on a design to commemorate the credit union’s history in the community.
Painting over the old mural garnered some negative comments from the public, according to de Leeuw. “It’s not that we wanted to dishonour the people who were on the wall, my own father was there,” he said.
He commissioned another artist, Michael Dean, to paint a picture of the old mural before it was covered and plans to give a print to everyone who had a name painted on it.
Oliver said she is hoping to have the new art finished in about three weeks. “I think people need to give it a chance, it is good to have new stuff,” she said. “This will have a lot more colour and bring some sunshine into our life again.”
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