Paint, community, & telephone poles

Paint-a-pole on ­Saturday, ­September 8^th on Fernwood’s Pole ­Painting Day—it’s free!

›› Mila Czemerys

Fernwood has become known for our quirky, colourfully painted telephone poles. Where did all these paintings come from, you ask?

Fernwood started painting our telephone poles on a large scale in 2011. At the time, our telephone poles were not looking so spiffy; many were covered with tags. Fernwoodian and artist, Beth Threlfall noticed and a light bulb went off.

She had heard a talk by Mark ­Lakeman, of The City Repair Project based in ­Portland, Oregon. Mark was speaking about mandalas being painted in intersections to create a feeling of community and place. They called it ‘Intersection Repair’. This inspired Beth to bring a similar ­concept to Fernwood through the medium of the telephone pole. Beth began painting poles around the ‘hood and ­Fernwood NRG noticed. Together, in 2011, we decided to host the first ever Pole Painting Day. It was a hit!

Over the past 8 years, hundreds of ­people have taken part in our annual ­painting of the poles.

All the paint used in this project has been salvaged through the Paint Exchange Program at Hartland Landfill.

This year, the Fernwood Pole ­Painting Project returns on September 8th! It’s a fun, free, creative project that everyone is ­welcome to take part in. Neighbours, friends, families, artists, are all invited to pick up a free Pole Painting Kit and make a mark on this neighbourhood.

Pole Painting Kit pick-up is ­on:
• Wednesday, August 29^th in front of the Fernwood Community Centre, 2-6pm
• Friday, September 7^th in Fernwood Square, 2-6pm

You are invited to paint a telephone pole in Fernwood on Saturday, ­September 8^th. For more info, visit fernwoodnrg.ca/events-directory/fernwood-pole-­painting-project.