DEPARTURES > THOMPSON Betting on Wolves
Thompson’s journey to become the Wolf Capital of the World By Tania Moffat
D
eep in the heart of Northern Manitoba’s wilder- ness, 739 kilometres from Winnipeg, lies the city of Tompson. Advocates in this once small mining community have set an ambitious goal for the city
– to position Tompson as the “Wolf Capital of the World” by the end of 2015. Some may say it occurred almost by accident, this quest to
become the “Wolf Capital of the World,” but perhaps it was fate. With miles of untouched wilderness, pristine rivers and lakes, Tompson’s healthy wolf population has lived alongside humans here in harmony for years. Volunteers from the non-profit group
Spirit Way Inc. began construction on a two and a half kilometre walking and biking path, designed to highlight the city’s culture, art, heritage, industry and scenery, but along the way they would set in motion a chain of events that would forever change the human/ wolf dynamic for the better. “We decided we wanted to include a mural
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as part of the experience along the walkway,” ex- plains Volker Beckmann, the volunteer project director for Spirit Way Inc. “We asked Robert Bateman for permission to reproduce one of his paintings.” Permission was granted
52 • Fall 2014
by Bateman to reproduce either the image of an eagle, a wolf, a lynx or a moose. For whatever reason, fate perhaps, the other animals were eliminated and the wolf image was chosen. Charles Johnston, Winnipeg’s own famed muralist, agreed to tackle the immense project, which would stand an impressive 86 feet by 62 feet on the most prominent building in Tompson’s skyline, the Highland Tower. Te mural is the largest photo-real mural in Canada, the largest lighted mural and the only Robert Bateman mural in the world. Te recreation of “Wolf Sketch” on this grand scale was stunning to say the least. Suddenly, with work on the walkway still underway, the mural began to draw massive media attention from across the country. As appreciation for the winsome
wolf grew, members of Spirit Way Inc. realized that people were fascinated with these enigmatic animals and that Tompson was uniquely situated to highlight them. Te city had wolf art, wolves at the zoo, local Aboriginal knowl- edge, wolves in the wild and a link to tourists stopping over on their way to Churchill. With a new
focus in place, they set out to unmask fears and to demon- strate how people and wolves can co-exist peacefully through education, research, and tourism.
The Hub
Photo by Volker Beckmann
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