A significant chapter in Fort Frances history soon will be underway in the form of a giant mural as work gets underway on the west exterior wall of the CIBC by heritage artist Brian Romagnoli, who arrived in town from southern Ontario earlier this week.
Romagnoli was commissioned by the “Paint the Town” committee, which received funding for the $10,000 project through a Fed-Nor grant, the Rainy River Future Development Corporation, the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce, and the Town of Fort Frances.
The mural will portray American industrial magnate Edward Wellington Backus. Backus was responsible for the development of the paper mills here and in International Falls, as well as the dam and bridge spanning the border crossing.
“The mural will [include] Backus and his phasing of the river from when it was just a set of rapids through to what exists there [today],” Cheryl Behan, committee president said yesterday.
“[Backus] was the daddy of the community,” reasoned committee member Julian Morelli.
“He was a fascinating man with a “made for movie” [history],” he enthused.
Romagnoli will use acrylic latex paint as the medium and expected the project would take six to eight weeks to complete, with the weather playing a big part in the flow of progress.
“It will probably be 10-hour days on site most of the time, unless the clouds roll in,” said Romagnoli, a graduate of both the Ontario College of Arts and Design and the University of Guelph.
Romagnoli was the first Canadian to be commissioned to design collector plates for Royal Copehagen of Denmark. He has designed and painted giant historical murals in Welland, Fort Erie, Thorold, Essex, Tilbury, Oshawa, Gravenhurst, Parry Sound, and Kenora.
Morelli hoped the mural project would be the first of several such paintings around town over the next few years and expected the inaugural painting would, among other things, spark renewed interest in local heritage.
“Most importantly it’s about where you’re from,” said Morelli. “This community just didn’t pop up by itself.
“The mural also will give [tourists] a lasting and good impression when they come across the border,” he added.
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