Wayne Gilmore has studied every square inch of just about every wall in Chemainus for almost 30 years, so he’s got a lot of in-depth knowledge of the art, a lot of love for the town, and a few ideas about the future.
He’s the guy you will often see near the sign that says, “Mural Washing in Progress” with the logo of the Festival of Murals Society printed on the bottom. His company is named I Can See Clearly Now, and he’s hired to make sure visitors to Chemainus can see the town’s murals in their best light.
It’s a job he loves, but there comes a time when we have to pass on the torch — or the sponge and hose in Gilmore’s case — and he’s spending his last months on the job training his replacement.
He won’t be an easy act to follow.
Gilmore has been cleaning the historical depictions of Chemainus from the very beginning, when an idea championed by Karl Schutz was embraced by a town facing economic disaster due to the closure of the sawmill that was its major employer.
“I’ve done these forever, and they’re my kind of friends,” Gilmore said of his attachment to the murals. “All the people I have met over the years have complimented the work, and the people, and the festival, and the city. It’s a wonderful gift to be part of it for so long. I really enjoy it.”
Looking back, Gilmore said a few moments stand out.
“I was doing a mural and I think it was a tour that came through, and they all came up to me and wanted my picture taken with them,” he said. “And I remember that — to be so welcomed by a group of people who had come to look at the murals.”
Gilmore took pride in his work and appreciated when people noticed his efforts.
“My greatest joy was people who would come up to me and compliment the whole mentality of taking care of the murals.”
Artists would sometimes include hidden figures in their murals. For instance, there was a subtly blended image of Lady Diana in the clouds of the mural that used to be on the old fire hall, where the library is now located.
“She was in the clouds,” Gilmore said. “It was beautifully done, but if you didn’t know it was her you never would have seen it. In every mural, there’s something waiting for you that wants you to see it.”
Gilmore is confident the due care and affection given to the growing collection of murals, sculptures and installations of the Festival of Murals Society will be an ongoing tradition.
“They’ve been here for a long time because they’ve been looked after,” he said. “The job is not only to clean the murals, it’s to prepare them for any work that’s needed to keep them up.”
It’s an ongoing project, vital to the economic well-being of Chemainus.
“I get it that the local people who see them every day, they walk by and don’t even look at them,” Gilmore said. “But people come here from all over the world. How do they know about Chemainus? They come here to see this,” he said, nodding toward Mural #1: Steam Donkey at Work.
If that was the beginning of his route, he’d have just 46 more murals to go in the Festival of Murals’s Historical Series. The collection also includes five in the Emily Carr Series, nine in the Community Series and 10 sculptures.
As Gilmore prepares to hang up his sponge, the town’s murals and the stories they tell will continue to shine, thanks to his decades of care.
