Mayor Donna Reardon congratulated Uptown Saint John Businesses celebrating five-, 10-, 30-, and 50-year milestones at the Business Improvement Association’s (BIA) annual general meeting on April 25.
“It’s been nice to see the evolution. There’s been a lot happening,” Reardon told the crowd of approximately 30 BIA members, many of whom were being recognized for their contribution to the area over the past several years.
Lorraine Peters’ L Models was recognized for 5 years; Heartbreak Boutique, MacKenzie Orthodontics, and Tuck Studio all marked 10 years in the BIA. Cricket Cove marked 25 years, while Handworks Gallery celebrated 30. The City Market Greengrocer (formerly Pete’s Frootique) marked its 40th year while Big Brothers Big Sisters and Vito’s both marked 50 years as part of the fabric of Uptown Saint John.
“I want to say thank you [to BIA executive director Nancy Tissington] for all the work that you do because we really do see the changes,” Reardon said.
With placemaking projects like tulip planting and the whimsical lighting in Jardine’s Alley, to Uptown Burger and Taco weeks, to the signature Uptown Sparkles event at Christmas that draws people from all over the city to the core, the BIA has strived to put the area into the spotlight.
Tissington used the AGM to let members know about the expansion of an endeavour the BIA first embarked upon last year, turning industrial-looking traffic boxes into a canvas for art.
After the success of the initial project on Charlotte Street in 2022, the BIA has adopted four additional traffic and electrical boxes to beautify and has chosen artist Fabiola Martinez to lead the project.
“We did a proof of concept last year and it worked out so well with Fabiola that we’ve invited her to come back to engage local artists,” Tissington explained before handing the microphone over to Martinez to describe the expanded project.
Entitled “Integration Series,” the project will culminate with a big reveal and celebration at King’s Square on Saturday, May 27.
“It’s more than an electrical box,” Martinez said. “It’s a connection between the artist and the community.”
“I wanted to call [the project] Integration because that’s exactly what happens when you’re moving from one place to another, from one community to another.”
Martinez, a professional artist who hails from Mexico but has called Saint John home for a number of years, has had her work displayed at galleries and universities throughout the Maritimes as well as at the Lancaster Museum of Art History in California.
“It can be a mixing of emotions of how we integrate, how we connect to each other. That was the name of the electrical box and it was the name of this project: “Integration” because we wanted to integrate professional artists to be connected with youth in the community.”
The project will see local artists like Amy Ash and Sheryl Crowley work with youth from St. Malachy’s High School who are participating in the visual arts program. There will also be collaborations with Rothesay High School students at the May 27th event, including the real-time creation of a chalk mural in King’s Square, as well as dance and musical performances.
“Young people, they’re passionate about art and they just want to have a platform.”
Alex Graham is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
