The City of Williams Lake encourages community volunteers and volunteer organizations to place their permanent mark on a new mural nearing completion in downtown Williams Lake.
On Saturday, September 17 from 10 am until 3 pm, the Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Williams Lake are teaming up to host a volunteer appreciation event to put the finishing touches on the new Rotary Club volunteer recognition mural located on the cement wall in the parking lot beside Save-On-Foods.
During the event, both Rotary Clubs are asking any and all volunteers from the City and surrounding areas to stop by to place their handprints on the wall to form leaves on the mural’s tree branches, as well as to enjoy a barbecue and some refreshments.
Work on the volunteer appreciation mural – painted by local mural artist Dwayne Davis – began in July after receiving formal support from City of Williams Lake Council earlier that month.
It was the first submission put forward by the Williams Lake Public Art Committee since its formation in the spring of 2022. Committee members include the City, the Downtown Williams Lake BIA, the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake, the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society, Williams Lake First Nation and the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association.
The committee was formed through a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and Downtown Williams Lake BIA to ensure a fair and impartial adjudication process to evaluate art proposals. The City and Downtown Williams Lake BIA have a three-year commitment to fund art projects to enhance the City’s public art collection and have allocated up to $10,000 annually.
“The City is pleased to be able to support and help establish a process for creating annual calls for public art from local artists,” said Mayor Walt Cobb, noting the City provides a $5,000 grant annually through the committee for an art project within City limits, with the Downtown Williams Lake BIA also providing an additional $5,000 each year.
“We have countless numbers of volunteers who help keep this community ticking and it would be great to see everyone out on September 17th for Rotary’s volunteer appreciation event.”
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Media contact:
Greg Sabatino, Events & Marketing Coordinator
gsabatino@williamslake.ca
Direct: 250.392.1770
City Hall: 250.392.2311