An art display on wheels celebrating each area of the municipality will soon be driving the streets of Chatham.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent in partnership with Impact Graphics unveiled a RideCK bus on Monday that has been fully wrapped in a mural, featuring recognizable people and landmarks from all six wards in Chatham-Kent.
The mural on the bus was fully sponsored and wrapped by Impact Graphics at no cost to taxpayers.
“It was about a two month process of going through. We solicited feedback from people to see if we were missing things. We wanted to capture a number of things.” said CK Mayor Darrin Canniff. “My own vision is I’d like to start seeing theme buses, like a sports bus and all those different things. ”
Nearly 30 different references to Chatham-Kent are depicted within the mural, including historical figures, important landmarks, unique locations, and fun activities. Some of the notable images include a portrait of Rev. Josiah Henson by local artist Mariah Alexander, an image of Mary Ann Shadd, as seen on the new Canada Post stamp, and a rendering of the Tecumseh Parkway statue. There are also depictions of classic cars, crows, barn quilts, and farmer’s fields.
While the bus will run predominantly in Chatham, Canniff said he’d love to see a whole fleet of CK Transit buses displaying their own unique Chatham-Kent mural in the near future. He said he’s hopeful other business come forward in to sponsor other murals for additional busses.
Dustyn Lachine, a co-owner of Impact Graphics, said he hopes the bus mural generates curiosity and interest among those from outside the community who see and want to know more.
“It’s going to get them curious to go visit parts of the community and allows everyone to get to experience Chatham-Kent,” said Lachine. “Everyone is going to look at it and see their own thing and be able to identify with different pictures in the project, which we think is really nice to be able to connect with the community in that regard.”
