MOUNT FOREST – Some residents are taking it into their own hands to brighten up their downtown starting with a new temporary mural on Main Street.
Inspired by a visit from Your Town Rising earlier this year, Hybrid Hair Salon and Detox Spa and gallery owner Erin Kiers said she came up with the idea to paint a temporary mural on the old boards surrounding the construction zone beside the Tipsy Fox restaurant to show residents what their community can be with a little bit of paint and lots of passion.
A three-day process funded completely out of pocket, the mural features the Mount Forest water tower, church steeples, trees, fireworks in the evening sky and lots of flowers to add colour. They also painted the phrase #fomo in #mofo to encourage selfies at the location.
"(Trying to get it done in time for the festival) was a dumpster fire, not going to lie. We worked so hard, so fast, morning and night, until it got too dark to see or it started raining," said Erin in a phone interview with GuelphToday. "But so many people walked by and they were so positive and it really almost made me emotional because I'm thankful they appreciate this effort. It was a lot of work."
Recruiting her husband Chris and their daughter Olivia Minnick to help paint the mural in time for the Mount Forest Fireworks Festival, Erin said the mural is intended to "make people smile," spread "contagious joy" and show people what they can do when they stop sitting behind their keyboards and being negative.
"It's nice to see this positive side of the community. I think we don't have enough opportunities to see how a community can really pull together in a positive way," said Erin. "I kept saying to my husband the whole time we were painting 'Doesn't this make your heart happy? Doesn't it feel good to know people are seeing this and smiling?' It feels good to know it's bringing joy."
This isn't Kiers' first effort to beautify Main Street. In April, she created a petition asking the township of Wellington North and local authorities to take action against building neglect on Main Street to create a more visually appealing downtown for new and existing residents. The petition currently has almost 300 signatures.
"If you see something that is a problem or something you're concerned about, do something about it (instead of being negative)," said Erin. "What we chose to do was take it upon ourselves to paint a mural- I'm not out there yelling and screaming at people, I'm saying this is something I see missing in the community and trying to be an example."
Looking to the future, Erin said this likely won't be the last beautification effort she participates in and hopes to see the township create more opportunities for local artists to leave their mark on Mount Forest.
"If everybody did something like this, can you just imagine how much good there'd be?" said Erin.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
