History in the Painting

St. George Residents Invited to Create Mural for New City Hall Building

What will your legacy be?

Few of us will earn Nobel Prize or even People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” status, but St. George residents can still be a part of history in the making in the upcoming weeks. At “paint nights” being held at various venues around town, locals can paint small tiles, capturing imagery of what they treasure most about life in our beautiful city.

Then, through some artistic alchemy performed by the company overseeing the project—Canada-based Mural Mosaic—the approximately 1,000 separate works of art will be combined into a single, unified, 12-foot by 24-foot mural that will be displayed over the entrance to council chambers when the new City Hall building opens this fall. Magically, when seen from a short distance away, the tiles will morph into a predesigned visual of pedestrians and a cyclist enjoying a trek through Snow Canyon State Park.

Nearly eighteen months in the making, the mural project has seen multiple incarnations. Originally, the finished piece was slated for installation on an exterior corner of the new building. But after input from residents, the focus eventually shifted to an inside site. 

“We hosted an open house to gather the public’s input on the proposed artwork,” said Community Arts Manager Peyton Lee. “We asked a number of questions about the new City Hall building: Should there be a mural on City Hall? If so, what type of artwork—such as graffiti, mosaic, or fresco—should it be? Should it be inside or outside? From these questions, we gathered feedback that showed people wanted a mural, and there were many ideas as to what it should be.”

From the responses, Lee and her team created a “word cloud” with the most consistent themes. The words history, local, artists, mosaic, and interactive ranked as the most popular descriptors. “After that,” Lee noted, “we realized that Mural Mosaic was the ideal option for us. In addition to their successes in executing these murals in many communities, including the city of South Jordan, Utah, their process is all-encompassing. It provides all of the required materials and training, which has greatly simplified the process for our team.”

Strictly speaking, Mural Mosaic is a collaborative process invented by artist Lewis Lavoie, who takes individual paintings and places them in a specific order to create a large painting. Lavoie debuted his technique in 1997, transforming a retaining wall next to an art gallery in Alberta, Canada. Five years later, Lavoie invited other artists to participate in a twenty-four-hour “paint-a-thon” to raise money for a local charity. Following the success of that installation, Lavoie has enjoyed international acclaim, with commissions coming in for hundreds of murals across North America, sparking collaborations with thousands of artists and nonartists worldwide.

Here in St. George, those interested in contributing to the new City Hall mural are queuing up for events at the Social Hall, Dixie Academy, and other venues. There, they are given packets containing a 4.5-inch by 4.5-inch porcelain tile, a small palette with eight acrylic paints, two paint brushes, and a sheet offering general parameters for the process. After watching a short video in which Lavoie describes the intent of the project and displays the proposed imagery, participants are free to release their inner Van Gogh. 

There are only two caveats for painters. First, they must adhere to the 80/20 Rule. For example, if they have selected a mauve package, 80 percent of their painting should feature that hue; if they’ve chosen orange, blue, green, or any other color palette, the same holds true. Second, the finished painting should not include words, which tend to distract from the artwork. Other than that, said Michelle Graves, Deputy Director of Arts and Events, City staff hope mural contributors will draw inspiration from four different themes.

“We’d love to see people depicting significant moments, landmarks, or people from our town’s past,” Graves explained. “Alternatively, they could focus on the beauty of St. George’s natural scenery or, of course, on our amazing, vibrant outdoor lifestyle. Or if they’d prefer, we would love to see paintings that showcase the spirit, diversity, and togetherness that define St. George: What do people love about living here? We feel like all these topics will provide some terrific inspiration for the paint nights.”

With a goal of finishing up the painting process by the end of June, all residents (both artistic and not-so-much) are welcome to sign up for an event. Once all of the tiles have been transformed, they will be shipped to Lavoie and his team for final tweaks. Then the paintings will be affixed to a substrate that will ultimately make its way to the new City Hall for installation. Given the nature of many proceedings in council chambers, the project seems particularly apt, said Lee. “History is often made in that room, so it’s perfect that our residents are contributing to the mural,” she reflected. “We hope everyone who is interested in being a part of St. George history will come out, grab a paintbrush, and show us their brighter side!”

For more information about the City Hall mural and/or to sign up to paint a tile, visitsgcityutah.gov/cityhallmural.