Agritourism

Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter

Those out for a countryside drive along Franklin’s bucolic Rue de l’Artifice will no doubt have noticed a pair of towering murals painted on roadside silos at the Ferme Sylvain et Pascal Vincent Inc.

The MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent celebrated the completion of the giant murals during a brief inauguration ceremony on September 9 for the first sky-high works of art to be included in the Circuit de Fresques sur Silos Agricoles. Two more murals will be added to the unique series at Thornbrae Farms in Très-Saint-Sacrement and Framboise et Parapluies in Saint-Chrysostome before the end of the year.

“It is with immense pride and deep gratitude that I mark this milestone in the promotion of our collective agricultural heritage,” said MRC prefect Louise Lebrun. “Together, we have sown the first seeds of a unique cultural journey that will raise our region’s profile far beyond its borders,” she added, before thanking the Vincent family, the other participating farms, partners, and artists for their belief in this bold initiative.

Rooted in the rural landscape of the Haut-Saint-Laurent, each mural will tell a story about the culture, farms, and traditions that are integral to the region’s identity. “Silos are symbolic for farmers, but they tend to get lost in the background,” said Nancy Brunelle, the MRC’s cultural development coordinator. “We are used to seeing them, but now we’re using this emblem to create a giant mural that will become an open-air exhibition,” she explained.

“With 93 per cent of the MRC’s territory being agricultural land, the project pays tribute to agricultural producers, promotes the profession, and highlights the heritage built by farmers. It is truly a tribute,” added the MRC’s tourism development agent, Sébastien Guy.

The first silos were painted by the Montreal-based collective of muralists known as Arts du Commun. “Everyone was very satisfied and amazed by the result. The family is happy,” said Brunelle. “It’s a good start.”

The silo at Thornbrae Farms has been washed and primed and work is expected to begin right away on the mural. Owner Bill Anderson has been enthusiastic about the project since it was first introduced. “I think it is absolutely wonderful,” he says, noting the 70-foot-tall mural to be painted at his farm by Montreal muralist and graffiti artist Bosny will be very different from those gracing the silos in Franklin.

“We want to explore different graphic styles and techniques,” explained Brunelle. For example, Arts du Commun painted with a compressor and projected the image onto the silo while adjusting proportions to the curvature of the concrete structure. Bosny prefers to work with a grid system to scale but paints freehand using spray cans.

The silo at Framboise et Parapluie will be painted by a different graffiti art muralist known in Montreal as Peru143. A fourth mural is expected to start this year and will be completed next spring.

Both Brunelle and Guy hope the silos will create opportunities for tourists and locals to approach agriculture from a new perspective. “Agriculture often means milk, vegetables, grains, and livestock, but between the raw product and the consumer is the farmer,” Guy explained. “All of the agricultural producers together represent an extraordinary social capital, and when we talk about bringing city folk closer to agriculture, we mean finding ways for producers to talk with people from outside the region. Our farms will become a place of exchange, and that is very rare,” he added.