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Mural continues downtown improvements

A large mural project continues the work of the Terrace Downtown Improvement Association to update the exteriors of buildings.
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JJ Jung airbrushes a new mural on the side of the Gemmas building along Emerson St. this afternoon. He says now he will call himself a carver and mural artist.

A large mural project underway downtown continues the work of the Terrace Downtown Improvement Association to update the exteriors of buildings.

The mural is being painted on the side of the Gemma's building on the corner of Emerson and Lakelse Ave. and will be 560 square feet when finished.

It'll consist of Sleeping Beauty Mountain and have several examples of local wildlife, including an eagle and Kermode bear.

Local artist JJ Jung, best known for his use of a chainsaw in creating art, has been commissioned to do the work.

The total cost of the project is approximately $7,000 with half coming through the improvement association and half through Gemma's, said association executive director Dennis Lissimore.

What we have is a $40,000 facade improvement project – a $20,000 grant from the Northern Development and $20,000 that the businesses making improvements are putting in,” he said.

Other facade improvement projects have taken place at the Northwest Training building on Greig Ave., Sidewalkers on Lazelle Ave. and soon, the OK Tire Shop on Greig.

Lissimore said murals in particular add to the brightness of the downtown core.

The one at SpeeDee Printers seems to have really set the standard,” he said of recent examples.

The mural on the side of the Gemma's building did mean that an existing one was covered up – a vertical rendering in dark colours of an angler.

Lissimore said that was done more than 20 years ago and that artistic styles change as the years go on.