One of the Murals Has Been Successfully Removed

One of the eleven murals was successfully removed on August 5th by art conservator Ian Hodkinson. To everyone's surprise, the process was relatively simple. If the remaining ten images were painted with the same materials, as we expect, then this experiment shows that it is very likely that they also can be elegantly removed using the same method. Hodkinson used the "Strappo" method with a special glue he discovered made from Nova Scotia cod fish. Using his method, the images were literally peeled off the wall, leaving the the plaster intact and affixed to the original wall structure. The section he removed was one of the three minor images measuring 32 inches by 36 inches. Ian described the quality of the image he removed as "very good." We hope to bring Ian back to Saskatoon to complete the project in November, provided that funds can be raised by that time.


Ian Hodkinson holding the mural he removed.