Spotlight on Our Creative Home: Gaultois Mural Project

Nestled away in the scenic South Coast of Newfoundland on Long Island, the remote community of Gaultois takes some time and planning to get to. But it's well worth the effort. Accessible by ferry, visitors will be treated to spectacular scenery, a serene and peaceful setting, and friendly folks who celebrate their proud history. Now, thanks to the work of Newfoundland visual artist Sabrina Pinksen, there's yet another reason to add Gaultois to your list of must-visit destinations.

Stretching around the lower half of the Gaultois community centre, Pinksen's stunning mural (at about 80 feet wide by eight feet tall) weaves the town's history and heritage together in eye-popping, larger-than-life fashion. It's part of the Our Creative Home initiative, supported by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for Year of the Arts and delivered by Municipalities NL and Business & Arts NL. The Paint Shop also donated $300 worth of paints for each mural as part of the initiative.

Featuring six scenes that tell the importance of the town's former fish plant and those who made a living there, locals having a yarn down by the water and more, Pinksen (working from archival photos) painted the individual panels inside the community centre before they were affixed to the building, inviting members of the town to come by, have a chat and see the creative process unfold.

Sabrina Pinksen’s mural spans across the lower half of the Gaultois community centre.

"The mural, with its historical theme, sparked stories from residents and we've read many comments that people are planning to return 'home' to Gaultois to view the mural in person. Folks had fun identifying all the fish plant workers in the fish plant panels. I got the sense that people are very proud and appreciative of Sabrina's work and that the mural is drawing the town closer together through storytelling, shared memory and community enhancement," says Martine Blue, volunteer project manager.

Marcella Drover, Gaultois town clerk, is one of the people who shares that sense of pride and says the mural has helped enhance community pride overall, while beautifying the town.

"We had our fish plant, and the flakes were there, and kids that grew up here. And she stuck in one beautiful picture on one beautiful part of the mural. She had four local gentlemen; they're stood up by the garbage box and they're talking. It's so realistic. When I look at that picture, I can almost hear what they're talking about," she says.

The mural has also drawn interest from those looking to do something similar in their own communities, and Drover feels it'll help attract more visitors to her community in the years to come.

"We're very proud of it," she says.

We connected with Pinksen to learn more about the process of creating this ambitious piece, the joys of connecting with the community, and the importance of seeing your experiences reflected through art.

A panel from Pinksen’s mural, featuring four local residents, sits on display inside the Gaultois community centre.

Business & Arts NL: Firstly, just wondering if you have any personal connection to the Town of Gaultois?

Sabrina Pinksen: I have no personal connection to the Town of Gaultois, but I immediately felt a lot of kinship with everyone there. I'm from Wild Cove on the Baie Verte Peninsula, a community with a population of 50, which is smaller than Gaultois. I think folks appreciated that I was from a small place too, and it didn't take very long for Gaultois to feel like home. I have a theory that if you're from one really rural community, in some way you must be from them all.

Business & Arts NL: How long did it take you to complete the mural and when was it officially unveiled?

SP: I arrived in Gaultois on a Monday, started painting on Tuesday afternoon, and finished on Thursday the following week, making for 10 days of painting in total. I was anticipating 10 days, but I also thought there was a strong possibility that I was completely off the mark and it might take me a lot longer. But things went about as smoothly as they could have possibly gone. Martine took great care of me while I was there as well, which really helped me keep up the pace of work. Once it was finished, we had an unveiling party on Friday, the following day, and we invited folks into the community centre to see the finished panels.

Business & Arts NL: Can you tell us more about the concept/theme of the mural? Did the town or Martine provide any input or direction?

SP: Most of my work these days is really focused on rural communities. I tend to make figurative paintings and I'm really drawn to the unique way that people in rural communities labour and spend time together.

Usually, I access my own community's archival photos to create paintings, so given my natural approach to work, I reached out to Martine in search of a place I might find some old Gaultois photos and she directed me to a Facebook page. I used some of what I found there to create an initial design. After I was selected for the mural, I worked with Martine and the town to choose images that created a well-rounded depiction of the community. Given Gaultois' unique history and the role the fish plant played in the community, it was an obvious choice to include the plant and the plant workers. The town also wanted to include all ages of the community and I was really pleased to find material that worked well together with a unified colour palette.

Watch as Sabrina Pinksen’s mural gets installed around the lower half of the Gaultois community centre.

Business & Arts NL: What was the experience like creating this piece in the town, and what was your favourite part of the process?

SP: The process of making the mural in Gaultois was wonderful. I'm so happy that I took the time and effort to travel to Gaultois as opposed to doing the mural off-site and delivering it, and I'm so grateful to Martine and her partner Isaac for hosting me and doing so much organization and work to ensure that I could be as productive and efficient with my time there.

I think if you are making art about and for a community, it's vital that you spend time within that place and with the people there. Folks were always visiting me throughout the day to watch the progress and comment on the work. This was so impactful to me as I got to witness firsthand how powerful it is to see oneself and one's community represented in art. There was a lot of gratitude from folks and I'm so happy I was there to receive it. It really made the process of painting so meaningful.

My favourite part of the whole process was when folks would come in and stand around the painting of the plant workers and try to work out who they all were. I had a lot of recurring visitors, including some of the oldest people in the community, who had so many stories to tell of Gaultois through the years. It was so incredibly meaningful to be there and to get to interact with everyone and hear their stories and it made making this mural a really reciprocal experience.

Business & Arts NL: What kind of feedback have you received on the piece?

SP: I received so much wonderful feedback during the process of painting and after as well. Lots of folks have privately sent me thanks and gratitude and it really is so profound to see what a project like this can mean to people and how it can bring them together. I left before the mural was installed outside and I'm really looking forward to returning over the summer and getting to see it mounted on the building.

Business & Arts NL: How has this project impacted you as an artist? How was the opportunity meaningful for you?

SP: It isn't a stretch to say that painting this mural in Gaultois is one of the most meaningful things I've done in my career. The creation of this work is really a culmination of all my motivations in art-making.

When you're from a town as small as mine, or a town as isolated as Gaultois, you start reckoning at a young age with the future of your home and the likelihood of its ending. You also start reckoning with your inevitable departure from the only home you've ever known. The rift that forms when you're forced to leave your community is really what inspires all of the work I do and I consider my art practices to be an active attempt to challenge the dissolution of rural communities. I really believe that we can have thriving lives in the places we were always told we had to leave. So to go to a town as unique as Gaultois, only accessible by ferry, with a population of less than 100 people, with a school and a library and more community spirit than most places I've visited, was incredibly impactful to me as an artist and a rural Newfoundlander.

I've always believed that art has a really vital role to play in the future of rural NL and I got to witness that firsthand through this process. It was an experience I'm going to carry with me throughout my career and I'm really grateful to the people of Gaultois for being so welcoming and supportive. It's rural communities like these that carry so much of our provincial culture and I really hope folks take the time to visit Gaultois, the South Coast, and the mural of course!