It didn’t take long for a new mural in the downtown area to turn heads and create a buzz in Ponoka.
In an effort to continue with the beautification of the downtown area, Murray Wedin, owner of the Wedin’s Team and Corporate on 48 Avenue, hired an artist, who originally approached Wedin, to paint a large mural on the east side of his building.
Wedin said he and the staff were hooked on the idea after a brief meeting with muralist Robert Murray’s vision of featuring old time grain elevators and a recognition of Wedin’s grandfather’s legacy of owning general stores in Saskatchewan, .
Along with the store and grain elevators, there is a train station that will make up the scene of the mural. “It’ll be rural Ponoka with a little bit of influence of Saskatchewan; then tie it all into the same era.”
The legacy portion of the mural is to recognize the Wedin Brothers stores from the early 1900s, which had grown from 13 to 16 stores at one point, mostly in small towns in Saskatchewan. Wedin’s grandfather, along with other family members, helped create a family owned business recognized across the province.
That legacy continues with Wedin’s daughter, Susan Bussiere, who is now a fourth generation family member operating the business.
“They had fabrics and notions and groceries,” explained Wedin of the old general stores.
One of the reasons behind doing this? “They talk about the downtown revitalization,” said Wedin.
It hasn’t taken long for the mural to take shape.
Along with coming at a decent price and being a heritage piece, said Wedin, it also has created some excitement in the community on how it looks. Since Murray started, there have been several people who came up to the painter asking about prices to do more work.
This mural is the second one to come up in recent weeks since the development of the Siding 14 Gallery mural on 50 Street and Wedin said he is excited for the potential considering the interest Murray has seen from other businesses.
For more information on Murray’s work check out www.mastermurals.net.