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A tribute fitting of a great captain.
The North Battleford Business Improvement District is to unveil a 2,400-square-foot mural to honour the late Swift Current Broncos captain Colby Cave today.
“The full feel of the completion of a piece such as this hasn’t hit me quite yet,” said Regina-based Indigenous artist Harley Sinclair from Peepeekis First Nation.
Read more:
- ‘Superstar of a person:’ Former coach, hockey community mourn the loss of Colby Cave
- Edmonton Oilers forward Colby Cave dies at age 25 after suffering brain bleed
- Ex-Swift Current Broncos star Colby Cave in medically induced coma
“It really is a pinch me moment. The amount of times that family, close friends, relatives had approached me during the creation of the piece and, given a piece of their experience with Colby Cave and stories about him and his youth and his success and just him as a person, really gripped and pulled at my heartstrings and, pulled me into being a part of their community.
“You’ve heard that like every artist puts a piece of themselves into every piece they create. That rings so true with this, especially more so when each day a new story got shared with me and it made me feel a part of the family. When it was finished and taking it all in, not as the artist, but as a viewer, really, I couldn’t help but shed a couple tears.”
The 25-year-old Cave died in April 2020 after a brain bleed caused by a colloid cyst.
The mural tells the story of Cave from his youth, through his junior hockey journey, through Swift Current to the NHL’s Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers.
“The scale of it is not unlike anything that I have done before,” Sinclair said, noting its size is 2,400 square feet, or the size of a tennis court.
“With a memorial piece, the most important factor is capturing the likeness of who you’re painting, right? So to be able to do that, I had to like look at the proposed design and break it down to its artistic fundamentals and the foundations that go into creating a piece and really make sure that I get all the colors correct, all of the light, the dimensions and everything because again the scale is so immense.”
Regina-based Indigenous artist Harley Sinclair poses in front of his mural honouring the late Colby Cave. (Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)
Designer Darren Russell created the design that Sinclair brought to live onto a large downtown brick wall.
“The biggest thing I think is like the beauty of a community coming together and what they can accomplish when they put all of their intentions and energy into a beautiful thing,” Sinclair said. “The biggest thing that I took away from being a part of this project was like how much community really meant. I couldn’t have found success with this piece had it not been for the larger community involved with it.
“I hope that this piece captures who he was as a person and who he continues to be as a legacy.”
A vision years in the making
The idea began nearly three years ago with Kori Humenny, executive director of the North Battleford Business Improvement District (BID).
“When I started with the BID, that was one of the first projects that I had on my plate,” she said. “I really wanted to have something that wasn’t just to beautify our downtown but to actually bring people in and want to see it.”
Humenny wanted the artwork to honour a local figure who embodied community spirit.
“The first person that came to mind was Colby Cave,” she said. “We never did get to really honour him or do anything for him in our community because his passing was during [COVID-19].”
After consulting Cave’s family and securing the building, Humenny turned to local designer Darren Russell of Ultraprint, who created a digital layout tracing Cave’s rise from the Battlefords Barons to the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars, the WHL’s Swift Current Broncos, the AHL’s Providence Bruins and finally to the NHL.
A celebration of memory and hope
The mural unveiling will take place Saturday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m., at 1201 101st Street in downtown North Battleford. The event will feature Oilers alumni, staff from the Oilers Entertainment Group and Oilers Blue Ice Crew, and team mascot Hunter.
It also coincides with Santa Day, featuring sleigh rides, children’s activities and a visit from Santa Claus.
For Sinclair, the unveiling will be both joyful and emotional.
“As with any art piece that I work on, I put a piece of myself into this,” he said.
“It’s going to be an emotionally heavy unveiling — but I know these are going to be tears of joy.”
– with files from battlefordsNOW
