A mural of Vernon's famed Sveva Caetani is coming down, news that has prompted people in the community — including the artist behind the mural — to call for the city to create a public art policy that could provide a fair procedure for the decommissioning of public art.
Artist Michelle Loughery created most of the murals that can be found throughout downtown Vernon, and created the Caetani mural in 2010. She said it was "pretty shocking" when she got an email from the Downtown Vernon Association (DVA) saying her mural of the historic figure on 32nd Avenue near Apple Park will be coming down to make way for an unknown development.
"There was a promise of a public art policy that never happened," Loughery said, referring back to when she started a connected mural trail in 2002.
"I think they need a policy and a process. They need to have a decommissioning," she said, adding she's frustrated at having no say in the process as the mural creator.
A petition created by Judy Rose and Dawn Tucker regarding the mural has eclipsed 1,000 signatures. The petition calls on the city for clarification on the proposed removal of the Sveva mural, improved maintenance of murals in general, the development of a comprehensive arts and culture policy and the formation of an independent cultural assets protection panel.
"We are reaching out to ask for your support in safeguarding the cultural heritage of our beloved city, Vernon, B.C. At this critical time, it is essential that we unite to demand action that will ensure that our community’s cultural legacy and history are respected, preserved and maintained for future generations," the petition states.
A city spokesperson confirmed that the city does not have a visual art policy. It did until 2009, when the Public Art Advisory Committee was disbanded. Creation of a new policy would require council to bring that committee back.
The spokesperson said the idea of a public art policy and program "has merit," but due to "competing priorities" the development of such a policy has not been advanced as of yet.
"The merits of any project or initiative must be carefully considered alongside many competing priorities, team capacity and how the request aligns with our corporate strategic goals," the spokesperson said.
As it stands, the city regulates murals through its sign bylaw, which requires mural proposals to be reviewed and approved by council.
There is currently no mention of murals in the city's official community plan (OCP). However, that could change if the public expresses enough interest, as the city is currently in the process of developing a new OCP and is early in the public engagement process. There will be a chance for the public to engage in OCP planning at an upcoming Nov. 7 open house, with the details of that open house to be released at a later date.
"The idea of a public art policy may be revisited in future years," the spokesperson said.
As for the decision to take down the Sveva mural, the spokesperson said the agreements for murals in the downtown core are between the DVA and the individual property owners of buildings with murals on them, adding the city is not a party to these agreements. In fact, they said the city isn't even responsible for ongoing repairs and maintenance of murals; its only role is to put $5,000 per year into a maintenance account for the DVA.
Keelan Murtagh, DVA executive director, said while the DVA values the downtown murals, it does not have the authority to stand in the way of a development just because a privately owned building has a mural on it.
"We love our murals, we think they're a very important part of downtown, and we're really sad to see one of them go, (but) we have to balance the future of development downtown with maintaining these (murals), and because it's a private building that gets sold to a private developer, you know, they are allowed to (bring the mural down)," Murtagh said.
He added that if there were a mechanism for the DVA to block a development plan in order to save a mural, this could hinder the creation of future murals, as building owners would be less likely to want to install a mural on their building if it meant they would lose control over what they did with their building in the future.
"We do really like these (murals), we try to preserve them, we want to encourage people to put new ones up," Murtagh added.
Murtagh confirmed the DVA has not reached out to Loughery about the prospect of replacing the Caetani mural elsewhere in the downtown.
It is unclear when the mural will be taken down.
