Michelle Loughery

Michelle Loughery (born 1961) is a Canadian muralist from British Columbia.^[1]

Life and work

Early career

Loughery was born in the community of Michel-Natal in the Elk Valley in southeastern British Columbia, but her family was relocated to the nearby mining town of Sparwood when the community of Michel-Natal was dismantled by the provincial government in the 1970s. Greatly influenced by life in a rural town, Loughery began her artistic career by championing the need for art and culture in small towns. As an art administrator, in her early 20s, Loughery saw the vital need for promoting art in her small town as a means to a creative outlet for the community's artistic youth including her own children.

A muralist is born

It was during her time as an art administrator that Loughery learned of the relatively new public art medium of mural painting. Having experimented with a variety of artistic mediums as a hobby, Loughery decided that she and a group of volunteer young people would paint a mural in downtown Sparwood. With no formal training, Loughery put brush to wall, and painted what is still considered a public art masterpiece. More importantly, the manner in which she painted, with community members and youth volunteers, became the foundation for a career that has expanded the globe and included countless communities and youth.

Critical success

By the 1990s Loughery had moved to Vernon, British Columbia, where she began a community art program that would ultimately see the creation of 25 larger-than-life murals and a life-changing experience for over 70 youth at risk in that community. Loughery realized early in her muraling career that because of the public nature of the murals, it was imperative to include community members at a grassroot level in the creation of the murals. This involvement ensured that the stories captured in the murals would continue long after the mural had been completed. It was also, during this time that she recognized that youth, especially youth at risk, were often overlooked by communities as valuable, potentially contributing citizens. This recognition led her to develop a youth at risk employment and life skills program that hires youth in a community for a set period of time, to work alongside her painting her magnificent creations. The program Loughery developed also includes the training of communities, through non profit organizations and affiliations, to utilize public art in a manner to increase and/or create tourism through economic diversification.

Work

Considered one of a few master muralists in the world who paint their murals free hand, Loughery has worked all over the globe, assisting youth and their communities to establish public art programs. She has been officially recognized by the Canadian, Province of British Columbia and Australian Governments for her valuable work with young people and their communities. She has been instrumental in beginning world class mural projects in Cuba, Missouri, USA; Vernon, British Columbia and continues to work in the Country Music Capital of Canada, Merritt, British Columbia. Her 9/11 mural commissioned by the City of New York is on photographic display in the Smithsonian Museum, and she is currently working with the Province of British Columbia on a multi-city mural project entitled, The Wayfinder Project.

References

Sources

• Sutherland, Jim. Murals Brighten Walls, Live. More Magazine. Summer 2008
• Grant, Paul. BC Artist to Paint Sept.11th Mural for NYC School. CBC News. March 17, 2003.
• British Columbian Achievement Foundation. Thirty Nine British Columbians Receive British Columbian Community Achievements Awards. March 15, 2005.

External links

• Official site
• Additional Magazine Articles