A new sight will soon be greeting visitors to the Wellness Center: an expansive mural of Big Canoe’s Covered Bridge with a group of native animals there to greet people.
The mural is designed by John Feight, a resident artist who has contributed work to Big Canoe for the past 10 years. However, for this work, Feight is calling on Big Canoe to take up a brush and help complete the painting.
The mural, which will greet visitors upon entering the Wellness Center, is divided into two adjoining sections standing at four-by-seven feet on the left and four-by-nine feet on the right. This mural will be an extension of “The Big Canoe Greeting
The original “Big Canoe Greeting Committee”.
Committee,” a painting by Feight. A black-and-white outline of key components in the painting has already been put onto the canvas, with colored dots to signify how each section should be filled in. All volunteers will need to do is paint within the lines using the matching color.
To participate, volunteers can come to the Wellness Center sometime between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday on the week of May 23. Painting is expected to last from three to five days with the painting to be finished in Feight’s studio.
If you’re worried about how well you handle a brush, Feight’s “Big Canoe Touch-Up Gang” will be on standby to help with the process.
“It’s better if they are not artistically inclined,” Feight explains. “Strange but true: non-painters follow directions more vs. an artist that wants to create something of their own. I guess it’s like conducting an orchestra: everyone needs to follow the music. Our objective is to please the viewer first, then ourselves.”
About eight people at a time will be able to paint the mural, though Feight estimates that it will take around 200 people to fully complete the mural.
Feight was brought on by Susan Willson, a member of the Big Canoe 50th anniversary committee, to create a project that the whole Big Canoe community could be a part of.
“The group volunteer aspect of the event brings people together in a common positive cause,” Feight says. “I have painted in hospitals with patients, families, medical personnel and volunteers for years and this sense of community emerges every time.”
Feight handiwork is all over Big Canoe, including the “Blackie Series” at the Black Bear Pub and the aquarium murals at the Wellness Center’s indoor pool. He has also spent 47 years painting with hospital patients and is the founder of the Foundation for Hospital Art, which aims use art to comfort all individuals, whether doctors, employees or visitors. His foundation has facilitated the work of more than a million people painting in over 6,000 hospitals in 195 countries. The foundation will also be responsible for providing the materials for this Wellness Center mural project.
A small-scale version of the “Ukraine Peace Dove” painting.
“A sense of love comes from the effort,” Feight says. “We need to love and work together to keep Big Canoe the beautiful place we moved to.”
That sense of love and charity shines through with their second project at the Wellness Center – a Ukraine Peace Dove. Additionally, visitors to the Wellness Center can paint and sign their name on the dove painting, which will be sent to Ukraine once the war is over. You will also have a chance to donate to help the children of Ukraine through UNICEF-Ukraine. You may donate at the center during the week of May 23 or on their website at https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/en.
For more information about the mural or the Ukraine painting, contact John at 770-851-1377 or johnfeight@hospitalart.org.
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