Category: Art Route Canada

Murals as a circular economy in the renewal!

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, ART, Art Route Canada, ART ROUTE GOLD, BlossomBC, indigo journal, Mural Towns, tourismLeave a comment

As a pioneer in the mural movement it is more than exciting to watch the bounty of murals being created worldwide.

The concept of wall art goes back to all our ancestors. The power that this large art medium provides is immense.

The social side of the production, the tourism draw, the beautification, the economy and most of all the creation of a return to place and our connected stories.

The economy of mural art is based in many layers. The production of the contract scope of work, basically the hiring of the artists and the purchasing of supplies is layer one. Then comes the use of the art. Layer two. This of course brings in copyright and licensing, ah, yes! The scary copyright word, which is not scary at all, but actually the coin of the art economy that can become a circular economy that can support renewal and artists and our communities.

Then the inclusive layer three. Art is business, construction, signage, heath support, social programming, youth and senior engaging, diversity inclusion bridge, a learning centre, and a legacy tourism draw all rolled into a voice for time. Oh yah….. and it decorates our downtowns and alleys. Win WIn.

This is social community art work! Legacy work that can lead to a shared prosperity highway trail to help us rebuild a path to small businesses, resorts, small towns and most importantly to a creative economy that includes the creatives, and inclusive to all others.

Everyone can participate in wall in action! Heritage buffs, children, teachers, business owners, artists, street youth….politicians, elders, museums, downtown economic groups, art galleries…..well the list is endless.

As an artist that has created huge interactive diverse, and inclusive projects for over 35 years, it amuses me when murals are looked at as a new trend. It is not. Humanity has left stories and taught children through images on walls that are really time capsules in caves around the world. The new images may lack the longevity of the mountain walls, on rapidly fading infrastructure, but if taken to a circular level can become the very catalyst for new infrastructure and economy renewal strategies.

It is well known that I have been the voice pushing for a connected art trail for a very long time. Many know of my sometimes annoying soap box to push the importance of community art. It is something that so many have supported for several decades as something that is vital to community social change and tourism strategies.

Covid has made what has been a life long dream, become a common thread for many now looking to figure out safe visitation opportunities, work opportunities and rebuilding. I am excited about all the artists and partners, governments and stakeholders jumping into the mural movement. I am so proud to have been a pioneer in the field.

The one thing wisdom offers is…what is the overarching theme? and is there a connected path that builds infrastructure, and uses the art to build a shared social economy. This is the business of the arts. And that part is vital to long term benevolent foundation support and management of the cash…yes I said it cash that is going to be generated from the creative work. Imagine art as an economy…well this is now and it is happening…I hope we can not trade that property for a low artist fee. I hope we all as artists can work together to protect and build the public art resource into a circular resource and mine for a creative tomorrow. Building art mines around our communities that build the resources from our creatives on the economic financial spreadsheets of our politicians and city halls.

ART in Action is the social economy in Action. Stay tuned as we unroll some exciting new projects and learning on @artrouteblue @artroutegold @artroutradio @mlougherymurals

TRANSFORMING OUR HERITAGE HIGHWAYS INTO ART ROUTES

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, ART, Art Route 66/99, Art Route Canada, ARTIST Michelle Loughery, BlossomBC, BLUE WAYFINDER, Destination Mural Town, FRIENDS OF ROUTE BLUE, HISTORY of the BL:UE, Lorrie Flemming, ROUTE BLUE ARTISTS, ROUTE BLUE COMMUNITIES, ROUTE BLUE WAYFINDER PROJECTS, tourism, WAYFINDER STORIES, Women of the RoadLeave a comment

RIVERS-TO-ROADS -TO SCAFFOLDS

Interweaving Threads of Color into the Strands of our Transportation Corridor

Narrative by Lorrie Fleming Penned on December 12, 2020

Inspired by a conversation with Master Muralist, Michelle Loughery

            A new generation of trail blazers are geared up and ready to hit the road, headed for an optimistic journey as the Coronavirus fades into our rear view.  Meanwhile, a new horizon for humankind is being cast on a transportation canvass envisioned by Humanitarian & The Master of Arts, Michelle!  The next step for the Art Route Blue framework is to create a Heritage Highway Recognition Plan and to form an Advisory Committee to work collaboratively in a consortium of partners to cultivate a means to restore the spirits of people, place & planet.  

            Our first pathways of mobility emerged via rivers & waterways connecting early travelers into a landscape of vast terrain that our ancestral pioneers forged initiating a network of trails to open passageways for human navigation.  As the advancement of human travel evolved, our trails developed into rail systems, interspersed with roadways that became highways of a transverse transportation system. 

            Culture & Art changes the face of our civilization; and our roadways & crossroads are the conduit for ancestral history keepers to showcase the founders & pioneers who built our roads and opened new gates to serve the settlements of homesteaders to outreach an immense landscape.  A new horizon is being sculpted to honor the enormous strides of stalwart champions of society and to acknowledge their efforts by transforming the future through visual arts & brush strokes depicting our multifaceted heritage.     

            In our multicultural and distinct society, we are people of many colors, graced by a multitude of vibrant tones and shades of diversity.  As a non-artist, my personal connection to Michelle runs deep, flowing like a river that culminated at the Heart of the Mother Road.  As I traveled on the road, Michelle was high overhead on a scaffold creating the first official Route 66 Mural City in Cuba, Missouri, in 2002.  Painted images that touch the hearts of the townsfolk [The Gold Star Boys aboard the Blue Bonnet Train] depicts the town’s homegrown heroes as they left their home to serve in WWI.     

            Today, in an era of the excessively rushed pace of people {in a hurry to multitask & reach unduly goals}, the time is right to reconnect and reset the inner soul of humanity.  To focus our sights on a sense of shared societal culture in harmony with a lifeline of art spliced into the initiative of Michelle’s Art Route Blue corridor, pumping new life into an upcoming generation of travelers.   Out-of-the Blue appears a beacon of light in pursuit of a beloved Blue Horse (a mythical symbol of hope) and a stabilizer for to all humanity to reach a base of solid ground in this time of global uncertainty.  May we sharply turn towards a Highway of Hope and meet each other on Main Street for a cup of tasty tea!

“If your heart is broken, make Art with the pieces” 

Quote by Shane Koyczan – Canadian Poet & Writer

THE SUNDAY SUNFLOWER STORY

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, Art Route Canada, ART ROUTE GOLD, BlossomBC, Lorrie Flemming, The Sunflower ProjectLeave a comment

A Multicolored Reflection of Light on Social Diversities

A Moving Narrative by Lorrie Fleming – Penned July 19, 2020

            Diversity in Society stands for freedom & equality in all people(s) that is deeply rooted and engrained within the “Soul of Sunflowers”!  Understanding that each individual flower (just like a person) is uniquely different and collectively equate to the whole garden of life.  Sunflowers are figurative pillars of power & purveyors of Art recognizing that everyone on the planet has value and such differences in cultural ideologies is the true soul of our society.    

            Today, the world mourns and pays tribute to John Lewis, a heroic champion of the civil rights movement, [prelude to Black Lives Matter] died July 18, 2020 at age 80.   Mr. Lewis is recognized as the Conscience of the Congress that led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the USA.    In 2015 USA President Barack Obama bestowed honor to Mr. Lewis to observe and commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.  He stands as a testament of gallantry and a “Stalwart Sunflower in our Society”.  

            Standing amidst Sunflowers in the present day, let us remember the words spoken by Mr. John Lewis:  “When you see something that is not right, not just, not fair, you have a moral obligation to say something”.  He continued to say.  “To do something.  Our children and their children will ask us, ‘What did you do? What did you say’?  We have a mission and a mandate to be on the right side of history.”  Such empowering and moving words of wisdom! 

            Lest we forget our Canadian feminist forerunners who advocated for women’s rights and focused on increasing their role in public life and the suffrage movement for voting rights.   The foregoing series of events transpired at a time when the Mother Road was in her prime.  Named in the classic novel [The Grapes of Wrath], Steinbeck called Route 66 The Mother Road because it beckoned to desperate migrants fleeing the dust bowl as they moved west in search of jobs during the depression of the 1930’s.

            In the following decades, the Highway took on mystic status as America’s Main Street.  Threaded into the ribbon of crossroads that carved the biodiversity of two nations, the framework of “The Sunflower Project” at Mile ‘0’ here in BC has etched a new Art path by launching the Sunflower as “Emblems of Discovery” in respect that all lives matter!   

            Words cannot express ample gratitude to the Art Community & the creatives for endowing balance into the color wheel of tonal palettes, dipping their brushes equally into the painted places of time.  To sum it up, Art & The COVID pandemic are global equalizers for humankind.  In solidarity, humanity will march to the beat of the choir in a “Symphony of Sunflowers” guiding the next generation to “the right side of history”.  

SUNFLOWER SALUTE

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, Art Route Canada, Blue Wayfinder, Lorrie Flemming, ROUTE BLUE JOURNALS, The Sunflower Project, UncategorizedLeave a comment

DEDICATED TO OUR CULTURAL HISTORY KEEPERS

LORRIE FLEMING – APRIL 26, 2020

2020

Inspired by a Conversation with Michelle on Our Cultural History Keepers

SUNFLOWER SALUTE

A Unified Face of Humanity Graced by a Smile

Natures Storytellers and Pillars of Peace

Narrative by Lorrie Fleming to Welcome Summertime…

Natures’ emblematic ‘face of hope’, Sunflowers are an expression of happiness that symbolize adoration, loyalty, strength and longevity. Known for its distinguishing trait that stems from its root word (sun) ~ embodies energy, joy and happiness in the advent of summer. It remains a fact that no flower can lift someone’s spirit like a sunflower!

Tracing its roots, Sunflowers originated in the Americas (1,000 BC), and were cultivated as a valuable food source for centuries. With the European exploration of the ‘New World”, the flowers’ popularity spread as the world began to appreciate and recognize its beauty & sustenance bearing a sun- like appearance that radiates an invitation to summer. Sourced for their seeds, the sunflower reflects so many of the sun’s positive characteristics of life. Freshly picked from sunbeams and caught by the eyes of Artists who loved to capture sunflowers as a motif of splendor in various genres throughout ancient times; also revered as sacred & inspirational in ceremonies of aboriginal societies.

Today, the sunflower remains admired for its sunny charm & delightful disposition. It is no wonder this sacred flower was chosen to personify the “The Sunflower Project”, spearheaded by Master Muralist (Michelle) as a historical honor in recognition of the countless Canadian men, women and children of Ukrainian & European origins that were imprisoned at internment camps across Canada during WWI. The murals, commencing with the Sunflower Painting in downtown Vernon, BC combines multi-media, traditional artwork as well as historical photos & personal stories shared by loved ones directly affected in various communities across Canada.

File Name: Sunflower Salute by Lorrie Fleming – April 26, 2020

Inspired by a Conversation with Michelle on Our Cultural History Keepers (The Sunflower State)

sunflower-saluteDownload

Regarded as the “Sunflower State, Kansas in Midwest USA bordered by Missouri on the east and Oklahoma on the south, morphed into it’s namesake emblem to honor the early settlers that fed the seeds to their poultry along the Santa Fe Trail. Hence the Sunflower was officially signed into legislation as a unique & cherished State Symbol. In the southeastern corner of Kansas State, Old Route 66 passes through a brief section [of 13 miles] on its way between Joplin, Missouri and Miami Oklahoma. This is observed as the “shortest stretch of the popular Route between Chicago & LA and is among the best- preserved portions of highway featuring many Roadside Attractions. The vintage buildings of Galena KS, near the MO State Line, inspired Pixar to choose this iconic place as the fictional community of ‘Radiator Springs’ and its beloved character “Tow Mater”.

(Four Women on the Route)

sunflower-salute-draggedDownload

The Kan-O-Tex Service Station on Old Route 66 is a 1920’s building lovingly restored and converted into a Route 66 Café by {Four Women of the Route – Betty, Melba, Renee & Judy}. Collectively, they facilitated the rebirth of Galena’s stretch of Historic Route 66 and dubbed the iconic Gas Station “Four Women on the Road” operated as a tourist attraction for several years. Ownership changed and today it is named “Cars on the Route” with the emphasis on the connection to the Movie CARS. The 1951 International boom truck next to the Kan-O-Tex Service Station was the impetus of the depicted ‘Tow Mater’ character that contributed greatly to the movie’s success.

AR:T ROUTE CANADA

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, Art Route 66/99, Art Route Canada, ART ROUTE Gold Country, ArtRoute97, Blue Wayfinder, BLUE WAYFINDER, FRIENDS OF ROUTE BLUE, HISTORY of the BL:UE, Lorrie FlemmingLeave a comment

SISTERS OF THE MOTHER ROAD

A SALUTE TO EXPLORE GOLD COUNTRY TO HONOR OUR LINEAR COMMUNITIES

Penned by Lorrie Fleming April 27, 2020

            As the world struggles with climate change, economic adversity and the silent enemy of the COVID-19 pandemic, humanity awaits to reconnect, as social distancing becomes a distant point in time.

            Recently, I shared a surprising & joyful conversation with Cathryn Wilson, of the BC Achievement Foundation, to relay news of my nomination for a Community Award; and it still seems surreal!    In that regard, I am equally humbled, honored and overcome by a feeling that I have reached a juncture along this epic journey to unite the ‘Mother Road’ with BC’s ‘Gold Rush Road’.  An International Art Gateway Project envisioned & created by Master Muralist Michael Loughery is being considered to connect Rural BC along a borderless & cultural journey.  This would include portions of the TCH #1 and [Route 66, 97 & 99] adjoined as one linear community.  

            I remain speechless!  “Sometimes historic paths aren’t discovered until they’re lost”!   Such meaningful words of wisdom notated by a fellow Route 66 aficionado (Anthony Arno).  In my viewpoint of traveling on a road for so long, daylight fades into sunset; and you find yourself following headlights into the unknown.  Somewhere along the way dawns new light cast by living angels to guide us back on track.  I’m referring to my “Sisters of the Mother Road” (Michelle & Stacey creators of ‘Art Route Blue’ and Marcie & her team at ‘Explore Gold Country’).  Special acknowledgement is directed to folks like Steve & Paulette Rice, proprietors of the Historic Packinghouse Eatery, who meet & greet hungry travelers embarking on a scenic journey along an original portion of TCH roadway in Spences Bridge!

            A renown writer quoted “Not all those who wander are lost”; and I believe that we’re all just searching for a new path worth traveling!   Perhaps it’s passion that drives us to find a special place on the road.  Speaking of myself, I can neither sing, dance nor draw, but somehow the people that crossed my path (namely Michelle & Her Creatives) collectively transfer passion into energy driven by the perpetual Power of Art!  Therein lies a permanent bond to greet travelers by painted walls and voice over techniques hearing storytellers that awaken our spirits along a linear community linked by a connective corridor of neighborhoods, families and friendships.    

            Together, we’re traveling in the same direction guided by the power of passion, people & planet.  In an uplifting transformation, the ‘Mother Road meets the Mother Lode’ and we become a family.  Travel the road slowly, stop or stay to live & learn and cross the bridge of knowledge that connects the urban & rural.  Our Ancestors shall rise and show us the way… “Wisdom is the Sunlight of the Soul”! 

“A lost road will remember your footsteps, for someday you may wish to return to trace the way”

{Quote by Munia Khan}

HIGHWAY QUEEN LORRIE FLEMMING

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, Art Route 66/99, Art Route Canada, ART ROUTE Gold Country, Lorrie Flemming, ROUTE BLUE JOURNALSLeave a comment

BUILDING CROSSROADS IN 2020

ART RURAL ROUTE BLUE

An All-Inclusive Greenway Enriched in Blue & Gold

Created by Master Muralist & Visionary, Michelle Loughery

Written By:  Lorrie Fleming, Member of ‘The Blue Team’ 

            Going Back to Our Roots … “Where were you in 1962”?  Our revered Trans Canada Highway was officially opened on September 3, 1962, building a Nation to link Victoria, BC to St. John’s Newfoundland.  Spanning Coast-to-Coast and Rural-to-Town, the introduction of a nation-wide transportation corridor woven into the tapestry of a ‘National Dream’ laced the stories together in the true spirit of our Confederation Founding Fathers.  At the time of its completion in 1971, this 7,821-kilometre epic journey was “the longest (uninterrupted) highway on earth”!  

            Michelle, A Pioneering Visionary, has brilliantly sculpted a futuristic, eco-cultural and all-inclusive movement that extends far beyond our ‘Canadian National Dream’.  In her adept wisdom, creative thinking and articulate language in the expression of Art, Michelle, by way of the Rural Route Blue initiative, transforms far outreaching spaces of our national highway into a vast multi-cultured platform of connectivity.

            Keeping in mind the vast lineage shaped by the legendary “Mother Road” with bloodlines that launched in 1926, she held the heart of America for nearly a century and changed the course of a nation by a powerful force in moving humanity.    Today, 2020 is approaching in our near vision and Michelle has set her sights on Rural Route Blue as an extension of the Mother Road, to move with the times in perfect harmony.  Driven by Michelle, Canada’s Mother Road is turning a corner toward a cultural rebirth with her deep-rooted sense of story telling via outdoor galleries encompassing a revolutionary evolving enhanced system of sight, sound & voice over technology. 

            Walls Will Talk… History has a brand-new lens to the future by way of a dimensional eco-force that extends into the transportation tapestry of humankind along a timeless and connective corridor that’s alive within our “cross-by-car” lifestyle.  Retrace an epic journey to rediscover and traverse our footpaths through the windshield to explore vehicular experiences that carved two nations in a cross-boundary trajectory of friendship.  

Through the vivid eyes of a gifted Artist, Michelle injects color into this new dimension using a dynamic mix of blue ‘n green with a dusting of Gold freshly picked from nature’s toolbox.  She has created a ubiquitous guideway for generations to learn & grow.  A new E-Highway paved with the aggregate of people, place & purpose awaits along ‘Rural Route Blue’ with arteries that connect a multi-directional, cultural and “art-in-motion & destination-mural-town” journey. 

See you soon “down the road” in 2020.  Meantime may the spirit of our ‘Mother Roads’ carry you to amazing places full of awe inspiring and multi-colored faces.  Now you can hear their voices!  

 Writer’s Footnote:

In my viewpoint, the patriarch link that connects Canada & USA is Great Britain’s Hudson’s Bay Company.  It cannot be understated the value of the footpaths that these brigades forged, alongside Aboriginal Americans who guided the expeditions to discover and delve deeper into the heart & soul of this vast new land called North America.  “Trapping Furs & Turning Gold” …Our history speaks through a land of braided trails with a renewed “Rush to Riches”!  Lorrie

AR:T ROUTE CANADA

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:TROUTEBLUE APP, Art Route 66/99, Art Route Canada, ART ROUTE Gold Country, ArtRoute97, Destination Mural Town, ROUTE BLUE COMMUNITIES, tourism, Uncategorized, WAYFINDER STORIES1 Comment

Art and beauty comes in many forms, including the natural and the handmade , and there’s no reason why, when admiring one, you cannot enjoy the other. And there is no reason that our modern cave masterpieces should not be showcased as invitations for the globe to visit and meander along our highways. The bonus is that travellers can fill the art stops in with small business and community events along the way. Connecting our communities makes sense. Like a giant story book. And it makes more sense if a highway art project like ART ROUTE BLUE is launched with artists and grassroots communities. To keep the jobs, make connections and bring the creative economy to the rural communities and keep our young people talking to the elders. This is a people up road trip. The Canadian Version of ROUTE 66. This art trip is long standing in its vision. Held dear by many and led by Queen of the Road Lorrie Flemming. I am just the conductor and the painter who got to paint way before murals became the explosion of trend that are now. Or maybe these modern cave drawings have always been a huge part of the education and history making of the stories of the people and of nature as we all ride the highway of life. Our Destination Mural Town Art Route is a global grid. It has many more layers to unravel and we are excited as many are using the model to bring Destination ART Routes to their regions. There is blue on those walls though! And the blue beings to the hands of the artists, the visionaries and the first people that have shared fire stories since time began. AR:T ROUTE BLUE details great work across the globe. Some of these artworks are showcased in outdoor settings, others however, are set amidst the most beautiful scenery. Take a look and see community social economics through a new lens. With a content building economy made strong by keeping the people in that system. Our stories are our art and our towns the fires that warm the rural earth. We have made ground at AR:T Route Blue. Destination Mural Town has many tourism organizations and communities abuzz. Destination Routes have been growing in rail and nature trails. Art walks have been around forever and people love to stroll through the streets seeking local treasures. But this AR:T Route is unique as the team of Blue are also trainers, educators, creators, builders, healers, connectors, first responders, homeless, nature protectors, storytellers, painters, sculptors, carvers, singers, youth, elders and all first people from the globe. This is community building from a place of renewal to reimagining. A new form of muraltourism. A content creating system that keeps the content with the creators and the power of all horses in front of one cart. The blue is the stories of many, in a place of global connection, to a system that keeps people and nature connected. Now that is reachable tourism and community economics.

BLUE UPDATE

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, ART, Art Route 66/99, Art Route Canada, ARTIST Michelle Loughery, Blue Horses, BLUE WAYFINDER, Michelle Loughery Murals1 Comment

AR:T ROUTE BLUE has legs and roots..

I have a vision. One that has consumed me for so long. The connection of people and communities under one thread. A piece of thread that we can all hold on to. The highways unite us all. Animals, and people have traversed those highways or paths form centuries. The very land making the wayfinder lines and the valleys and water the places that hold our dreams and our steps. I am always humbled by the stories of the immigrants that I am so proud to be a person molded by. Those stories are like threads. Strong and visions of places and times that my eyes have never seen. But they are as real and defining as my own experiences. This is the bridge of time that each one of us hold. The connection of the generations and why elders are so important. I am a grandmother. I love the art of being a grandmother. My grandchildren are portals to my own children, yet also a mirror of myself and a look back at those I never met. The DNA in all of us is a tapestry. It is the life line to the future. AR:T Route blue has been a long journey. It is hard to explain what it is. Many may think it is an art route. Many think it is a blog. Many think it is something that a crazy artist is pushing that makes no sense. But it is a vision. It is building something that will connect us to each other and to the creative skills that exist in everyone of us. And it is the space. The space that lives between each one of us. I met a wonderful new artist from Ashcroft this week. Marina and I were speaking about the blue and Marina sees artist copyright is like water.

Art is for everyone. You can own water rights..but you never own the water…only the creator can. And in that conversation and connection I realized that the blue is vital to us connecting through creative thought and the thread that brings us all together…..the blue is a thread that is making its way and I am again humbled by the journey. Grateful in Blue- Michelle The Blue Wayfinder

#garbagegobbler

On By MASTER ARTIST Michelle LougheryIn AR:T Route Blue, Art Route 66/99, Art Route Canada, Blue Wayfinder, Destination Mural TownLeave a comment

Lorrie
Rural Rider

Highway Art:
Here’s the New Garbage Gobblers @ The Coldstream Lookout – Note:  The original version (pic below) housed in Revelstoke!