New mural aims to provide a fresh perspective on an old tradition

Meet the 'mural doctor' A bright, new mural at the Westmorland County Agricultural Fair is expected to start a big conversation.

Fred Harrison’s inspiration for giving new life to the agricultural exhibit building in Petitcodiac, N.B., was twofold – first came two coats of bright yellow paint to liven up the older building, followed by an exceptionally large rooster.

“I wanted a fun theme. So I asked a young lady, named Zana, to pose for me as if she was afraid of a giant chicken and that’s how it started,” said Harrison.

Only the rooster is coloured in now, but over the last week Harrison has been filling the neon canvas with familiar animals. As of Tuesday afternoon, there is the outline of a horse, a cow and a duck.

“These are the animals I associate with the fair,” he said.

“There’s still a large rabbit who will be a little friendly presence there, next to the girl, and I think a turkey at this end, which will balance some of the colour in the mural.”

The mural is being created for the Westmorland County Agricultural Fair, which is set to take place this Friday and Saturday.

The two-day event is filled with children activities, a day draft show both days, the horse haul Friday night and multiple venders.

It’s hoped the bright illustration will drive-home an important message about the traditional event.

“I think it’s to bring back the agricultural fair, the small town fairs,” said Westmorland County Agricultural Fair president Kim Chambers.

“It’s surprising how many go through one of our buildings where 4H has their animals, [where] the kids don’t know about the animals. We take it for granted because we’re around the animals, but there’s so many that don’t. So we’re really pushing and trying to get the agriculture a little more known within the community.”

Harrison says the final product should be complete within a week and a half, but even with more to come, the hope is that the mural will help draw more people to the fair this weekend.

“I’m hoping that they can take away the beautiful artwork of somebody, again, the agricultural of the animals and that the fair is still alive,” said Chambers.

“We’re small, but we’re still here. We’re trying to make things better, trying to add things every year.”

With this weekend’s forecast looking promising, Chambers says she’d like to see 300 to 400 people come through the gates.

“[The mural] was for this year, kind of like let’s start new, let’s get some things going,” she said.

“It’s been rough over the last couple of years getting over COVID, so now it’s like ‘okay let’s get this fair going again this year.’”

A painter for his entire life, Harrison has murals all over New Brunswick. While they each bring a different creation to life, he says he follows a very strict procedure.

“I’m very rigid,” he laughed.

“I learned, as a young person. I learned through library books and my hero, of course, is Michelangelo. So he starts with the line and I start with the line, and I chalk the line in until I get it right because it’s easy to erase and then I painted him blue, because I like the impressionist and I like to use pure colour and I like to layer my colour because you get a more intense response.”

The paint for the fairgrounds was donated from the Community of Three Rivers and Harrison donated all his time and skill.

“The town has been very good to me,” he said.

“I live close, this is my closest neighbourhood. I know a lot of people here and I wanted to do something for the town. I’m basically retired, so it’s nice to be able to give back a little bit.”