Fort St. John celebrates new public art installations including Moose Media mural

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — An array of new public art installations are now ready for residents to view, according to the City of Fort St. John.

In a press release the morning of Friday, October 24th, the city highlighted several recent public art installations that can now be viewed by residents.

The four installations include a mural painted on the side of the building that houses Energeticcity.ca and 100.1 Moose FM’s offices, created as a partnership between Energeticcity.ca’s parent company Moose Media, the city’s artist-in-residence Francine Freeman and a pair of artists named Simone Olanski and Sophie Zaldy.

The mural features imagery of vinyl records, musical instruments and people dancing. The city describes the process for creating the mural as a “mentorship-based project” that helped build the capacity for future public art commissions by giving some local artists hands-on experience.

The mural is on the side of the building at 9924 101 Avenue.

Another project highlighted in the release was an array of small murals on portable barricades at the corner of 100th Street and 100th Avenue, also created by Freeman as part of a “placemaking initiative” to bring character to local greenspace.

The remaining two projects both began in 2024: last year saw local artists invited to submit artistic, creative designs for new bike racks to be installed throughout the city, as well as to submit art reflecting the community to be wrapped around various utility boxes in the hopes of deterring graffiti vandalism.

As a result of those two projects, 20 new bike racks based on the winning designs have been installed across the city and many utility boxes in the downtown area have been wrapped with artwork so far, with more to come.

“These projects reflect Fort St. John’s commitment to fostering creativity, enhancing public spaces and supporting local artists,” said city mayor Lilia Hansen. “Residents are encouraged to explore and enjoy these new additions to our cityscape.”

To read more about Fort St. John’s various public art installations, visit the city’s website.