Winnipeg graffiti artist called burned Hargrave building his studio

Charred bricks and rubble are all that remain at 44 Hargrave St.in downtown Winnipegafter a towering inferno tore through avacant apartment complex onApril 6.

The place was little more thanan eyesore to area residents, but for one Winnipeg graffiti artist, that vacant building was a makeshift studio and "sanctuary."

• No injuries in fire at vacant Hargrave Street apartment building

CBC Newswon't be namingthe artist, but street art fans in Winnipeg might recognize his signature.

It was like a little sanctuary to just kind of go and paint and relax.- NES, Winnipeg graffiti artist

The artist known as "NES" has been doing graffiti in Winnipeg and across Canada for close to 20years.

He spoke on the condition of anonymity, sayinghe would be at risk of being charged forvandalism and trespassing if his identity was to be revealed.

NEScut hischops on grain elevators,trains andbuilding sides in plain sighton the Prairiesas a teen in Winnipeg. Now in his 30s, heworks in a trade and makes a comfortable living.

"For me,it's just like a stress relief.It's almost a break from reality to focus on painting, and a way to stay sane," said NES.

"Some people will go run a mile for me, I like to paint, and a place like that it's nice to go, right in the middle of the city, and you're not bothered. You can just paint and relax."

The self-proclaimed urban explorer was out on one of his usual scouting missions, looking for a low-key space to paint,when he came across Kenilworth Court at44 Hargrave St.last summer.It became one ofNES'spainting haunts, a place where he could quietly work on murals without worry.

"It [was] almost like just a sketchbook," he said."It wasn't just for everyone;it was aimed at the kind of people that would explorethose kinds of places."

Over the course of the next year,NES estimatedhe entered the vacant apartment about a dozen times to paint the inside walls of the 105-year-old, four-storey brick building. Most of the art he produced in oron the building were different variations of his tag.

"I painted the front and stacked the rubble and made stairs in front so I could get that one spot," said NES, referring to one of his simpler tags that was a background feature in CBC's newscoverage of the fire.

Sad to see it go

"My phone blew up the second that things went up," said NES, claiming that he had friends and fellow artistssending him photos of his work on the outside of the burning building.

Plumes of smoke streaming from the buildingwere visible from St. Boniface, but luckily no one was injuredin the fire that caused about $1 million in damages and required 12 suites in a neighbouring apartment to be evacuated.Five youths are now facing arson charges.

• 5 youths, aged 12-15, arrested for Hargrave apartment fire
• Winnipeg apartment fire, demolition damages building next door

NES, who claims he was in the building less than 24 hours before it caught fire, was sad to see it destroyed.

"Not that I was losing anything that was painted it was like a little sanctuary to just kind of go and paint and relax," he said.

"It was just a nice spot right in the middle of the city that was almost like it wasn't part of the city, you know what I mean? You just kind of go in there and you're kind of secluded from everything and do whatever you want in there."

'Squatters, kids, bums, druggies'

CBC Newsinterviewed several area residents in the aftermath of the fire, includingJacques Fornier, who said the building, vacant since 2007, was a known gathering place for"squatters, kids, bums, druggies."

No injuries in fire at vacant Hargrave Street apartment building

10 years ago

Duration 1:57

No one was injured in a blaze that started in a vacant apartment building in downtown Winnipeg on Monday evening, but it may be hours before people living nearby can return to their homes.

But during his many painting sessions, NES claims he "never ever saw any evidence of squatters in the building."

"It's not like there's people coming and going and there's all these nefarious activities that people say are going on," he said.

"It just got so overdramatized where it's like, 'It was a home to squatters and vagrants and [street workers] and junkies' one person says that, and now that's like fact almost, even though that's just one person's quote in the news."

Finding 44 Hargrave

NES is always looking for weird, abandonedold buildings to explore and paint.

"For me that's [urban exploration],just sort of a precursor to finding a spot to paint graffiti," said NES.

Hisusual targets are the sides of buildings and trains, leaving him with a limited amount of time to get something layered and cohesive from can to canvas.

Despite having had a few close calls in placeslike the one onHargrave, NES has a kind of fearlessnonchalancewhen it comes to the prospect of encountering strangers in dark dilapidated spaces.

"Nothing is going to jump out and bite me," said NES, adding he often carries a flashlight and cameraon him when goes painting at night.

"A lot of times, too, if you do run into someone in a place like that, which in that place I never did, but in other places, most of the time they are friendly people and they just want to sit and talk to someoneand want to sit and watch you paint and appreciate what you're doing."

Not vandalism per se, says NES

He acknowledged that many people probablyconsider what he did inthat buildingasstraight up "vandalism."

He also thinks most people fail to see a distinction between graffiti quastreet art and the defacement of private property for its own sake.

"There's still a respect issue. I'll go into a place like that, but I'm not going to smash windows or set fires or even, like, spray paint on 100-year-old brick or old architectural features it's just the white wall."

Only a matter of time

NES said he wasn't surprised the building went up in flames. In his experience, abandoned spots often attract firebugs.

The one crucialdifference, said NES, is thatmost times those firesfizzle out and die before spreading throughthe entire building.

"I'm surprised it lasted that long," he said."Having a building like that, where it was located, just how easy it was to get inside you could step over a fence to get inside."

Why risk getting arrested for art no one sees?

Entering a place like44 Hargravehad its risk, NES admitted. But that riskand the knowledge that his art generally has ashelf life didn'tfaze him.

"It's almost more about the ritual of doing it. It's like painting a subway. It's like 10 minutes of painting and three days of preparation."

The process of creating the art in the Hargrave building wasmore about the ritual and therapythan thefinal product.

Now that NES'sprivate downtown studio is gone,he's backon the hunt for a new urban "sanctuary."