Pincher Creek girls paint mural in Calgary Tower

Amanda Frost and Lauren Fisher beside their mural
submitted photos

Justine Jorgensen

Back in April, two Pincher Creek residents Amanda Frost and Lauren Fisher took part in the Alberta Wilderness Association Mural Painting Competition. The two high school students were the only pair outside of Calgary to participate; in the allotted six hours of painting time, the two produced a scene of a cougar lurking in a tree.

The competition was brought to the girls' attention by their art teacher, Laura Heine. "She gave us the info and we filled out the form for the Alberta Wilderness Association art contest. With that and a rough sketch of our cougar we sent it in to be picked if we would get into the contest," Fisher explained. Although the pair was unable to stay for the judging, they received an honourable mention for their age division and two coats as a prize.

Fisher and Frost titled the mural "To see before being seen". Frost explained, "I wanted to paint a cougar because I feel like they're an important species in our environment, being a key predator. They're beautiful animals with a lot of mysterious atmosphere around them, which made it an interesting subject piece to work with."

Photo from  Climb and Run For Wilderness website

When asked how she felt about her artwork being displayed in such a well-known building, Frost said, "Really nervous to be honest. I felt like I didn't have the right skillset to work on a large scale painting like that, but I'm glad I got the experience." Fisher went on to say, "I personally was proud to say my name was out in the world, and that is not an easy thing to achieve."

According to the Climb and Run For Wilderness website, Margaret Main, the mural painting competition coordinator, says that each year the variety and quality of the artwork produced has been impressive. She commented on the annual competition, saying, "The dull, grey interior of the tower is gradually being transformed into the tallest art gallery in the west.”