Mountains feature prominently in the latest line of dumpsters to be rolled out across the city.
Many of this year’s Dumpster Project artists took inspiration from their surroundings to create colourful, mountain-themed murals on the side of the commercial bins, which will be placed in visible locations for people to enjoy.
They put the finishing touches to their dumpsters outside The Arts Station last Saturday, where members of the public could vote on their favourite and also contribute to a community dumpster, themed alien self-portrait.
“It went really well, especially considering that it was forecast to rain and thunderstorm, we pretty much avoided all of that, so that was really great,” said The Arts Station administrator Louise Ferguson on Saturday.
“The new time worked really well, this is the first year that we’ve been in the early evening.
“In the past it’s been really hot… so we moved it later and it helps with the paint.
“We’ve had lots of people through, lots of kids and families, lots of visitors, it’s been great.”
While many of the new dumpsters reflect Fernie residents’ outdoorsy lifestyle, two groups chose a different theme. The Fernie Academy’s entry featured Peruvian colours and scenes to celebrate the school’s 10th year visiting CIMA, a non-profit organization near Lima that provides assistance to boys living on the streets or in high-risk situations.
The Fernie Pride Society took part in the Dumpster Project for the first time, covering their entry in rainbow-coloured handprints and words to promote diversity and acceptance.
Ferguson said the project aimed to provide an outlet for local artists as well as to discourage graffiti.
“There’s a lot of garbage bins that are tagged with graffiti and painting them means that they are less likely to get tagged,” she said.
“Also, it’s just a great way to introduce some public art into the community and who wouldn’t want to see a painted dumpster over a boring grey one?”
The new dumpsters will replace others around town identified as tired looking or tagged with graffiti, and will be placed at the bottle depot and behind the fire hall, College of the Rockies Fernie campus and The Free Press office.
Brina Schenk received the People’s Choice Award and $500 cash prize, which was announced during Canada Day celebrations at City Hall last Sunday.
