Now under new ownership but under the same name, the August Jack Motor Inn is getting an all-around upgrade, and the owners want to show tourists and visitors alike some community talent.
The Squamish Chief spoke with the Inn’s senior graphic designer and marketing lead, Angela Taira, who shared her insight about the Inn’s renovation and the owners’ plans to showcase local artists.
For context, Taira described how the new owners have “purged everything” from before, installing utilities such as smart TVs and air conditioning, as well as a community plaza space for events and food trucks. She said a circuit party and a market were held there recently.
Now, she said, the inn will be adding a café serving ”wholesome” meals, to create an additional social hub for the wider community, with complimentary pastries and hot drinks available for hotel guests. The café's main feature will be a wall dedicated to local art, to give guests and customers a taste of what Squamish artists have to offer. The plan is to hang their work and possibly make pieces available for purchase.
‘Big fans of community-based events’
“The [Inn’s] owners are such big fans of community-based events and the arts; this is a way to showcase the Squamish community, and give a bit of an insight to our international guests, and our guests in general,” Taira said.
“When they walk into the [café], they can enjoy their coffee, their food, and then they can also look around and be like, ‘Oh, wow, I can't believe there are so many talented artists here, waiting to be discovered.’ So yeah, we wanted to dedicate that wall for that purpose.”
Taira said the Inn’s owners have finished the main construction of the café—there are marble floors and couches on order—but it might be another few months before it opens, and the artwork is hung up.
She noted that the feature art wall will not have a finalized design; rather, artists may rotate, and the work may be continually added to, evolving over time alongside the community, and of course, public taste. The Inn, meanwhile, is currently scouting artistic talent, and receiving sample designs, namely from featured artists in the Squamish Mural Walk.
“It’s the owners' idea to keep on adding things, but the team is all working together to make it happen,” Taira said.
“In the meantime, we are in communication with the District of Squamish, and they're sending over people in charge of the Squamish Mural Walk. It's funny, because some of our guests are people who are going to be painting for the walk.”
Though the wall’s main theme will be about supporting local art, Taira emphasized that it is important to maintain diversity within the representation of the Squamish community.
“We don't want to just showcase art about Squamish nature. We don't want a full wall of just [Stawamus] Chief, right? We want a mix of different kinds of styles, different kinds of media. So we're open to many things, as long as it really showcases the spirit of either Squamish or just the people of Squamish, [and] how they want to communicate it through their work.”
Taira is currently welcoming samples of artwork and design ideas. Artists may submit their piece or idea to [email protected]
The August Jack Motor Inn is located on 37947 Cleveland Avenue.
Ina Pace is The Squamish Chief's Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) reporter.
This reporting was produced through the LJI, which supports original civic journalism across Canada.
