A Grey Wall, a Quiet Start: 'Les Marées' Takes Its First Colour
Montréal artist Daphné Côté-Ouellet began painting the exterior of Burlington's Central Transit Hub on Tuesday morning, laying down the slate-grey tidal base layer of her 'Les Marées' mural. No fanfare — just a few commuters pausing on their way somewhere else.
BURLINGTON, Vermont — The first thing most people see is the wall itself: a deep, tidal grey, the colour of the St. Lawrence in November, spreading slowly across the primed exterior of Burlington's Central Transit Hub. Daphné Côté-Ouellet is up on a scaffold by seven in the morning, and most of the people passing below are thinking about buses.
A few stop anyway. One woman stands for a minute or two with a coffee, watching the roller move. Someone else photographs the wall — just the base layer, not even a shape yet — and posts it to a local community channel with no caption. Côté-Ouellet herself says nothing on site. Back at her studio later, she updates her channel with a single image and four words: it starts today.