St. Albert students brought flying sheep, funky flowers, and a little bit of joy to Sturgeon Hospital patients last week through a new mural.
About 50 guests gathered in a back courtyard at the Sturgeon Community Hospital on May 29 for the unveiling of a new mural. Painted by Bellerose Composite and Muriel Martin students, the two-part mural depicts a whimsical scene of bright flowers, a princess in a castle guarded by a sleeping dragon, and flying sheep, and has been hung on an isolated wall on the south side of the hospital.
Because the area around the mural was covered with large rocks and unsafe to walk in, officials “unveiled” the mural by removing a paper cover from a printout of the mural taped to a different wall.
Team effort
The mural itself came about from a chance conversation between nurse Lisa Rutter and former Sturgeon Hospital patient Amber Holowchak in 2023.
Due to a quirk of construction, patients in rooms in one particular wing of the hospital see nothing but a brick wall when they look out their window.
“So many times I’ve opened these curtains and jokingly said, ‘Let’s let some light in and look at this beautiful wall!’” Rutter said.
When Rutter said this to Holowchak during the latter’s stay at the hospital last year, she said Holowchak, who enjoys watching videos of baby goats, replied that she didn’t want to stare at a brick wall.
“I joked that I should go out there and paint some goats,” Rutter said.
Rutter raised this idea with hospital administration, who supported the project. She called in friend and Bellerose Composite art teacher Lindsay Bracken to help. Bracken had her Grade 11 IB Arts students team up with Grade 4 students at Muriel Martin (where her children went to school) to produce a mural. The students decided on a two-part mural for maximum visibility, and went with a theme of “goats in a meadow” at Holowchak’s suggestion.
“Goats are goofy and silly and fun to watch,” Holowchak explained, and always put smiles on people’s faces.
The Bellerose students designed and painted the mural and worked with Muriel Martin students to apply the base coat, said Bellerose artists Nyah Rushton and Jorja Richardson. The mural ended up featuring sheep instead of goats because of a miscommunication, but Rushton said the sheep could still be interpreted as baby goats.
Holowchak, who was not at the unveiling but had seen a picture of the mural, said she was fine with either animal.
“Sheep are just as sweet as goats are and can be just as mischievous.”
Richardson said the Bellerose artists wanted to do something more whimsical than just goats/sheep in a meadow, and settled on a fantasy theme. Look closely, and you might notice that one of the sheep is wearing a cape.
Rushton said the bright-coloured flowers helped the mural stand out from the shadowy corner in which it was placed. The petals of the flowers feature the names of the Bellerose artists and the thumbprints of the Muriel Martin painters.
Rushton said it was fun, if a little stressful, to work with the Muriel Martin students and teach them about art. She said it is exciting to know this art is now on permanent public display.
Bracken said she and her students hope to paint a second mural inside the hospital in the future.
Holowchak said this mural will give future patients something to look at and help take their minds off the oft-depressing hospital experience.
“I think [the students] did an amazing job on it. It’s absolutely beautiful.”
The mural can be found on the south side of the Sturgeon Hospital by the green space past the door to the adult day program, but is most easily viewed from inside the hospital. Hospital site director Karen Maier said crews plan to remove the rocks around the mural so people can walk up to it.
