Captain mural gets new look

By Vernon Daily Courier staffMonday, July 30, 2007 http://www.dailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=56925

Capt. Shorts got a face lift this week and is looking as good as the day he was painted. Capt. Shorts is the name of the mural near the downtown Safeway and renowned mural artist Michelle Loughery was in Vernon yesterday and today to spruce up the good captain. “We gave him a complete new face,” said Loughery Monday afternoon. Loughery painted the first Vernon mural in 1997. From that first brush stroke the Downtown Vernon Association mural project took off and for the next several summers Loughery and her crew of area youth were often seen clambering up scaffolding as they created more art. Loughery‘s work is now in high demand and she has been as far away as Perth, Australia to paint. She is currently working on a large project in Merritt – where she is painting a variety of music stars faces - and is being sought to work in Sweden, Montreal and New York State. The Vernon mural project also helped marginalized youth and has become a template for many other communities. Along with being part of creating the giant works of art, the youth learned a variety of life skills and Loughery has brought that program to Merritt where she works with First Nations youth. She took a couple days off to come to Vernon and touch up the Capt. Shorts painting. Loughery said she did it as a favour to DVA executive director Earl Hansen, who she said has the same love for Vernon she does.

The next mural she hopes to restore is the Spirit of Vernon mural, which is often called the plane mural. It is the first mural people see when they come in to town and the environment has caused a portion of it to fade. “Earl wants to help Vernon and that‘s how it all started,” said Loughery. Loughery said there is still funding available for the mural projects and hinted she would like to see the project start up again in Vernon. She said the youth are an integral part of the project and “everybody wants the kids to do it.” The Capt. Shorts mural is being used as a test of possible techniques to address the maintenance requirements of other downtown murals also in need of upgrading. Plans are to revitalize a number of murals each year with priority going to those in greatest need of attention. “These downtown murals are unique and impressive works of art in their own right, but they require tender, loving care,” said Hansen. “With the original mural artist as a partner with the DVA and the City of Vernon in these maintenance efforts, we are going to have the murals around for our own enjoyment and as a draw for visitors for a long time to come.”