(Facebook/ Alexsi Ann)

By Nigel Maxwell

A fresh facelift

Local artist pays tribute to City and to 2SLGBTQIA+ community

Aug 2, 2024 | 2:30 PM

A young artist responsible for giving the North Battleford Galleries building a fresh new look, says she hopes she can inspire more public art.

Aleksi Ann’s mural covers an entire outside wall. She told battlefordsNOW the idea for the project came to her last March and she then reached out to a local Pride committee for help. And they in turn helped bring the proposal forward to City Council for approval.

“The lady who heads the Arts Council is the manager of galleries for the city of North Battleford, so she suggested that we put it on the back of the gallery and the city generously just donated that space,” Ann explained.

The beautiful mural shows the skyline of North Battleford and Ann explained the goal was to get the public involved and in the end, about a dozen volunteers came out to help.

“It’s a very romantic vision of the city. It’s very fun and joyful and I really do love living in this city and I know we get a bad reputation. Sometimes that comes from our own residents, so I wanted to be part of a narrative that flipped that a little bit,” she said.

20th Annual Street Fair

PHOTO GALLERY: Prince Albert Street Fair officially underway

Jul 19, 2025

Missing since July 9

Melfort RCMP searching for missing 19-year-old

Jul 19, 2025

GREAT CYCLE CHALLENGE

Lloydminster brain cancer survivor rides over 10,000 km in 10 years to fight childhood cancer

Jul 19, 2025

Faced with some challenging weather conditons, Ann persisted. (Facebook)

Within the painting are pride flags on the train, which represents a connection between 2SLGBTQIA+ people living in smaller centres, with those living in the urban centres. Ann noted the term safe space gets thrown around a lot.

“Now I wanted a space that wasn’t just safe for queer people or represented them. I wanted something that celebrated them as a part of small city and in more rural culture,” she explained. “So yeah, I wanted I wanted to celebrate 2SLGBTQIA+ culture as much as I wanted to celebrate the city itself, that I’m very, very proud to call home.”

Ann’s mural is not the first of its kid, and anyone who takes a stroll through the city’s downtown will appreciate the work done by other local artists including Jody Miller.

A spokesperson for the City’s Park and Rec department confirmed they are open to more projects like this in the future, but also reminded interested parties proposals must first be approved by city council.

“I would love to install more public art down the line. It was really fun and great learning experience for me, so I’ve kind of caught that bug and I’d like to do more now,” Ann said.

.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell