Artist’s presence is larger than life

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This article was published 09/07/2018 (2657 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

James Culleton certainly knows how to make his mark.

The St. Boniface-based artist and furniture designer recently creating his latest masterpiece — a birch tree forest-inspired mural on the north-facing side of the parkade of Club Regent Casino on Regent Avenue. The mural is 60 foot tall and 500 foot wide.

“If there is an Olympic hand-painting roller competition, then I’m in top form,” said Culleton, with a laugh, as he surveyed the massive mural.

With the help of Sean Multan — “who helped prime the wall” — and Michael Koch-Schulte — “who helped with the ground painting and helped me document it all” — the 44-year-old became trained to use a knuckle boom crane for the project, which proved to be invaluable.

“It’s a 60-foot articulating lift, and an amazing piece of equipment,” said Culleton, noting he is “safetied and certified on it.”

Culleton, who has also created a grass labyrinth at the Winnipeg Folk Festival for more than a decade, said the birch tree took on a significant meaning when selecting the subject matter for the mural, especially in terms of the local landscape.  

“Birch is a symbol of transformation, and it sheds bark like paper,” Culleton said.

“And to some extent, Transcona is also in a state of transformation. For this project, I reached out to the Transcona BIZ, which has been really helpful. It was important for me think about how the mural looks both from a distance and up close. To the north of the parkade, there is lots of greenspace and walking trails and a lake, so I wanted something that symbolizes active living and green living, but I also wanted there to be enough detail for people who are driving by. I can’t wait to see the building in the winter, when the raw colours are out.”

While the different stages of the process took months of planning and preparation, the painting part took around a month and went throughout June, Culleton said. And because the north-facing side of the parkade doesn’t get much sunlight, the mural is expected to last a long time. As well, approximately 100 gallons of high-quality paint were used, which will add to its longevity.

In some ways, Culleton’s latest creation represents coming full circle because while he was born in St. Boniface, he grew up in Transcona and painted his first mural when he was a 17-year-old student at Transcona Collegiate.

“Coming out of university, I was a mural painter, and now I’m coming back to it. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.

The next mural on Culleton’s creative horizon in scheduled for September, when he’ll travel to Smithville, Texas, as one of five artists chosen to paint portraits of notable people from the city. Culleton is the only Canadian among the five.

Go online at jamesculleton.com for more information about Culleton and his work.