Mount Allison Commerce students’ poster campaign aims to highlight the many qualities of the NB town

SACKVILLE, NB — This May, the first set of a series of posters celebrating what people in Sackville love about the town appeared in the windows of local businesses. The Sackville Poster Project is a collaboration between students from Mount Allison’s Arts and Culture Management Class and the Sackville community.

“Our sense of place is defined by many factors. To many people Sackville is, and has been for many generations, the place where they were born and brought up, a place that nurtures their families and their relationships with their friends,” says Janet Crawford, owner of the Fog Forest Gallery and a community member involved in the project.

“To many others, Sackville has been a place of learning and reinvention: A place where they have lived those important years during their university careers, a place of development. Or perhaps you think it is simply a lovely little town that values its culture and its friendliness.”

The project began when Mount Allison Commerce professor Dr. Rosemary Polegato visited Kingston, Ontario. “I noticed a series of posters in the windows of downtown businesses expressing what Kingston meant to people. I wondered how this concept might be developed here in Sackville and I was especially excited by how students might approach such a project, “ says Polegato.

Four Arts and Culture Management students, Jacob LeBlanc, Jake DeWolfe, Quinn Everett, and Sarah Richardson embraced the project with enthusiasm. Gwen Zwicker, executive director of the Greater Sackville Chamber of Commerce, assisted the group by providing some background information on the town.

The students conducted surveys downtown asking such questions to people on the street as: "What do you like about Sackville? What does Sackville mean to you? Finish this sentence: Sackville is ....? The answers inspired the wording for a series of six student-designed posters that describe how citizens feel about their town.

“Our aim with this project was to simply showcase the culture and beauty of Sackville while enticing individuals to continue to support the local community,” says Richardson.

“We, as a group, all got to know Sackville a lot better. We were able to learn that what made Sackville unique wasn’t just the stores or the university but the people and the sense of belonging to this tightly-knit community.”

The posters are making their ‘public appearance’ on the windows and doors of downtown businesses in May and they will continue to be introduced until the end of the year.

Photo caption: One of several posters designed by Mount Allison University students highlighting the many features of Sackville, NB. Posters are currently on display at downtown businesses.