Saint John Is Ready For Hula’s Return
SAINT JOHN– The stage–well, canvas– is set for Sean Yoro’s (popularly known as Hula) return to Saint John next week.
The world-renowned artist will once again paint a mural in the city’s uptown, this time at Market Slip. On Wednesday morning a 28-ft tall aluminum composite canvas was installed at the site. Discover Saint John will be hosting Hula’s live-painting experience from July 28 through August 8. Once the mural is complete, Clarke says they will find a permanent home for it.
RELATED: World Famous Painter Of Waterfront Mural Returns To Saint John This Summer
“After the eighth of August, we’re going to be removing this canvas and finding a permanent installation,” said Victoria Clarke, executive director of Discover Saint John, as the giant canvas was being lowered. “We’re working on that right now.”
International and national media outlets covered Hula’s 2017 painting at Pugsley Slip and many art, surf, and lifestyle websites and social channels have shared the video. The 2017 mini-documentary about the mural’s creation has been shared over 25 million times from Hula’s social channels alone. Discover Saint John also won the Seatrade Cruise Awards’ 2018 Marketing Initiative of the Year Award for the mural.
The 2017 mural brought a lot of international attention to Saint John and the Bay of Fundy. Clarke says the new, permanent mural will not only serve as a destination for locals and tourists alike but as a significant piece of marketing for the city that will last for years to come.
“You can’t buy the kind of recognition and visibility that Sean’s project in 2017 brought us. We can track 25 million views, it’s easily twice that, of his video on the web. We were on the front page of CNN.com and mentioned in media around the world. He is a public figure and followed around the world,” said Clarke.
“He has almost no permanent installations anywhere in the world to be viewed. His work speaks of impermanence, and so to have a permanent piece will actually create a destination for people that are fans of his work.”
The mural will also be a welcomed addition to Saint John’s other public art.
“Our public art here is already very diverse and exciting and this is just another addition to that great collection,” said Clarke.
The mural project is being funded with help from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), which has made an investment in the project through its Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program. The Province of New Brunswick, the City of Saint John, the Saint John Parking Commission and Fundy Engineering have also contributed.
“We really wanted to push that marketing message out and that was really out of our scope of investment,” said Clarke. “So ACOA and GNB are helping us really amplify this message into Ontario and into New England.”
Though the mural will be a big win, Clarke says the fact that Hula actually wanted to return to Saint John is a testament to how welcoming Saint John is to visitors.
“The people of Saint John showed him so much warmth and welcome that he wanted to come back to Saint John . . . that speaks a lot to our people,” she says. “People genuinely loved him and he genuinely loved his experience and that makes me really proud.”