Wagga’s newest hotel, St Hugh, is already catching the eye of locals with its gorgeous mural painted by artist Maggie Deall. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Those looking for accommodation close to Wagga’s centre while having beautiful designs scattered across their room are in luck as the St Hugh Hotel is preparing to open its doors.
At 81-83 Forsyth Street, the new hotel is in its final stages of readiness before its opening in November. And those who have walked past the refurbished and repurposed building may have noticed the beautiful artwork greeting you from the foyer.
Created by Little Yellow House owner and local artist Maggie Deall, the flowery mural welcomes people with its bright and far-reaching design.
The mural’s scope, simplicity and appeal are something that Maggie and St Hugh venue manager Rebecca Berrigan worked on and the result is already catching the eye of the public.
“We worked separately on exactly the same page,” Maggie said.
“We talked about some bits and pieces, we talked about the design elements of the hotel as well as the colour scheme.
“Once we got together, we just had the same vision and it turned into something that I believe we are both really happy with.”
Maggie said she was honoured to have been asked to paint the mural and she had been eager to try something a little bigger than what she was used to.
“I’ve done a smaller mural at the police station. But never something this, I guess, artistic,” Maggie said.
According to artist Maggie Deall, the St Hugh Hotel’s mural took longer to plan than it took to paint. Photo: Matt Beaver.
“It’s not your standard mural. A lot of it is hand-painted with fine-art paints and small paint brushes, rather than a really big-scale spray painting.
“I spent a lot of time at the gallery testing paint colours to make sure the palette was going to be absolutely right.
“We wanted something really soft and whimsical to complement the beautiful reception space but not to overwhelm it.”
Rebecca said she had noticed people walking or driving past staring into the new hotel.
“It’s definitely eye-catching,” she said.
“It’s definitely everything that I hoped for and more than what I imagined.”
Rebecca said she wanted to bring the hotel to life by demonstrating the creative side of Wagga and hoped to allow artists to showcase their works.
“I drew something up for Maggie and she was able to paint pretty much exactly what I wanted,” she said.
“Seeing it [the mural] here now, it really makes me look forward to other designs and works that could end up throughout the venue.”
While there is no solid date for an official opening at the time of writing, Rebecca said she hoped the hotel would be up and running by the end of November.
“We are hoping to be open by the end of the month, but until then we encourage people to come and have a look at our brilliant mural,” she said.
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