Murals Unveiled in Central Huron

by Bob Montgomery

Eight large murals were unveiled in Clinton this week.

Central Huron Community Improvement Coordinator Angela Smith says the original Mural Project started in 1997 when the Clinton BIA put up fourteen murals. She says they still have six of those murals and have been busy restoring them. In the past year the county launched a program to put six murals in communities around the county and Clinton received one of those and then one of their older murals was brought back to life and that brings the total to eight.

But Smith points out, these are not ordinary murals. She says each mural has a sign underneath it and there are two QR codes on the sign. One takes people to the web site where they can get the location and the history of each mural because many of them are a collage of a number of different things. Smith says the other QR code will help people download an app that is a viewer of animation. So when people download the app and then hold up their phone as if they were taking a picture of the mural, touch the button and the mural comes to life, it's animated, like a short video with the appropriate audio and each one is unique and tells the story of that mural.

Smith says there's something for everyone to enjoy in the project. She says the use of new technology will appeal to the younger set and the historic aspect speaks to people who are a little older.

Smith says she got the idea for the animation through one of the artists, Jasmin Pannu, who saw the animated murals when she was working on a project with the Junction BIA in Toronto, so they worked with the animators and they can now be seen in downtown Clinton.

Smith says it took a group of sponsors to make the project happen and she thanks RTO4, the municipality, Huron County Heritage Committee, K and J Pharmacy, Clinton Raceway and Bartliff's Bakery in Clinton.