A new walking tour guide for Ashcroft celebrates some of the many glass mosaics that have gone up around the community in the last few years, providing a map, pictures, and background information for those who want to learn more about these beautiful creations.
The guide has been produced by Community Futures Sun Country, and general manager Deb Arnott says it has been designed so that it can be updated and reprinted as more mosaics are installed.
“We had Kelly Tuohey do the photos in November and December of last year,” says Arnott. “Our goal is to update the brochure again in the fall. It was a huge job. We interviewed [artist] Marina Papais about each piece, and will interview her as each new piece goes up. We want a story for each mosaic.”
The guide does not include every mosaic in the village, and Arnott says Papais was consulted about which mosaics would initially be featured. Most of the mosaics are located in the downtown area and are within easy walking distance of each other, although two outlying mosaics—a group of seven at Desert Sands Community School, and one at the entrance to the Bar M Ranch on Highway 97C east of Ashcroft—are also included.
In addition to detailed background information about the inspiration for each mosaic, the guide also features information about Papais and her husband Daniel Collett—who either created or inspired most of the mosaics—as well as information about Ashcroft. Arnott says that 700 print copies of the map have been produced, and are available at the Community Futures office in Ashcroft; they will also be distributed to local visitor centres as they open for the summer.
“We looked at having an app developed, but the cost was prohibitive,” says Arnott, adding that they are looking at working with QuestUpon—which is developing a virtual walk through Ashcroft that is set to debut this year—to see if the mosaic tour can have an online presence. “And people like to go away with a hard copy as a souvenir.”
She says that the map is not just for visitors. “People who live here should go around, especially when they have visitors, to show off these beautiful pieces. Locals should get out to see the beautiful things we have in our community.
“To have Marina and Daniel here is great. They volunteer so much of their time. And the mosaics are something really different.”