OLDS — The future of a mural created for scenes in an HBO series filmed in Olds is slated to be discussed later this month by the Town of Olds municipal planning commission (MPC).
It was already discussed late last month by members of the town’s Public Arts Advisory Committee (PAAC).
The mural was painted on the east side of the Mountain View Publishing building at 5013 51st Street in Olds facing the alley as part of the set for an episode of The Last Of Us, filmed in Olds May 31 and June 1.
Coun. Wanda Blatz brought up the matter during council’s June 27 meeting, noting she attended the PAAC meeting during which the subject of the mural came up.
“If any of you folks get an opportunity to go by and look at it, it’s absolutely a gorgeous mural,” she said, adding that it’s her understanding that Steve Hornung, the artist who painted it, is well known.
Coun. James Cummings, also a member of the PAAC, said the piece generated lots of discussion during the meeting because it was created quickly.
“The mural process was kind of ad hoc this time around, as opposed to the way it’s normally designed, because the art was there and the art was scheduled to be destroyed, as all movie production stuff is,” Cummings said.
“So the owner of the building managed to jump in and say ‘hey, before you break that down or paint it over, let’s see what we can do to keep it.’
“I’m happy that we were able to adjust the process involved, the mural process. And I hope it continues,” he said, adding it “seems to be getting a lot of community support.”
Cummings said the mural is scheduled to come up for formal approval during the next Olds MPC meeting, slated to occur July 21.
