Experience Guide | Tourism Medicine Hat

James Marshall Murals

Over 40 years ago, James Marshall carved his first brick mural unknowing that he would eventually have 351 large murals across Canada, a few in the United States, one in Japan, and one in England. The artist grew up in Medicine Hat drawing scenes of the World War he’d heard about and witnessed, painting, and creating commercial artwork for his father’s printing business. “My mother always said I was After he worked in the family business for a decade, Marshall was introduced to the artistic side of bricks when he went to work with the international brick plant, IXL Industries Ltd. “I was already playing with sculpture and pottery. I saw all this clay making bricks in a big way, and I knew I had a new art form,” he says. One of the most memorable artists in the City's history, enjoy a tour of James Marshall's beautiful brick murals. STATIONS OF THE CROSS In 1995, Marshall was asked by a group of Catholic nuns to depict Jesus’ condemnation, crucifixion, rise and ascension in a series of 17 murals. Soon after beginning, his studio was hit with the flood of 1995, collapsing mural 13. Luckily, it was rebuilt and installed in time for the turn of the millennium. 1 drawing on things before I could walk,” says Marshall.

ST. PATRICK’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church is one of Medicine Hat’s most visible landmarks. Inside, the ascension of Christ can be found, completing Marshall’s Stations of the Cross. It is the 17th of Marshall’s Stations of the Cross, with the first 16 found a block away. 2 JAMES MARSHALL BOOK "Artist James Marshall tells the story of his art in his own words, with illustrations in pen and ink, watercolours and photographs of his carved brick murals, along with a description of the work involved in producing them." Book available at Medalta in the Historic Clay District

CITY HALL Marshall’s first mural shows the Legend of the Saamis, from which the City of Medicine Hat draws its name. According to legend, a harsh winter forced Blackfoot Elders to send a young tribesman, his new wife, and wolf dog to save the starving tribe. Following the frozen South Saskatchewan River, the group found Medicine Hat’s river valley. After summoning spirits from an unfrozen hole in the river, a giant serpent emerged and asked for sacrifice in exchange for special powers of hunting prowess. To this day, that hole in the river never freezes. Read the full story of how Medicine Hat got its name on page 88. 3

Historic Downtown

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