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Before and after photos of a design on Graham Avenue, retouched this year 12 months after it was first laid down.<\/p>\n
At the time, Cool Streets Winnipeg organizer St\u00e9phane Dorge told the Free Press that the wear appeared sooner than expected, and cited challenges including the condition of the street, oil embedded in the pavement from decades of bus traffic and the quick timeline for completing the project.<\/p>\n
Street artist James Culleton, who created one of the eight asphalt murals installed on Graham Avenue last summer, returned in June with a team of artists to repaint his Parcheesi-inspired design.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a repaint, like the exact same design just repainted,\u201d Culleton said. \u201cThe first time round we had to do all the measuring and scale and everything, and then this time it was faded, but you could still kind of see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMurals don\u2019t last, but they offer a beautiful moment in art,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The city confirmed seven of the eight murals were touched up in June, saying the paint used on street surfaces is temporary by nature and wears down under Winnipeg\u2019s climate and road conditions.<\/p>\n
It said crews took additional steps this year to help the commercial-grade paint adhere better, including thoroughly cleaning the pavement before reapplying the artwork. Mural locations were also adjusted.<\/p>\n
Culleton said he was approached by Dorge to submit a design for the project on the former bus mall. He\u2019s worked on street murals and other public art projects for years, including a crosswalk mural at The Forks.<\/p>\n
He said having to repaint street murals is common. Some of his murals at The Forks, for example, are refreshed every year because of the amount of foot traffic, winter conditions and street maintenance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just sort of fades away,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if it didn\u2019t fade away, you\u2019d probably end up using a paint that was too toxic.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Graham Avenue, he wanted to create something interactive.<\/p>\n
His mural is based on the board game he remembers playing as a child, with the idea that people could interact with the artwork rather than just walk past it.<\/p>\n