Becoming Halifax Central Library: A Creative Q&A with Colin J Muise

Interview by Anna, staff member, Marketing & Communications

Halifax Central Library’s, opens a new window Lou Duggan Creative Studio, opens a new window is a public makerspace where people are invited to Learn, Discover, Create, and Share. Inspired by the talent that we see showcased in the Studio, our Library branches, and across the city daily, we invited local costume designer, Colin J Muise, opens a new window, to collaborate on a piece inspired by Central Library's iconic exterior.

Reminiscent of a stack of books, Central Library has been a cornerstone of Halifax's creative scene—helping community members access state-of-the-art tech and creative equipment, offering Art & Crafts drop-ins, and endless DIY resources. Partnering with Colin, known by many for his Becoming Halifax series, where he creates costumes inspired by local spots like the Dartmouth Smoke Stacks, the Wave, and the ferry, was a pairing with natural creative flair!

Over the span of a year, Colin met with the Library multiple times to pop into the Creative Studio, chat about his design, and showcase progress along the way. Allow us to take you along as we share Colin's journey to becoming Halifax Central Library!

Winter/Spring 2024: Meeting the artist, concept planning, and early-designs

Please note: the following conversations have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Halifax Public Libraries:

So Colin, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Colin J Muise:

So my name is Colin Muise. I was born in rural Nova Scotia, but moved to Halifax almost 10 years ago. I've been online for a long time. Back in the day, I was on a website called Lookbook. That was my first foray into social media. This was more than a decade ago, and you could post your outfits online—it was like Pinterest/Instagram but just for outfits. So I started there, and then I made a YouTube channel that was all about doing makeup. It was a makeup/grooming/style channel that amassed quite a few followers, and I found success with that. Eventually, I let that channel die and transitioned into my real career, which is in healthcare. More recently, I ended up making a meme of myself in Halifax online, making TikToks, opens a new window and being silly, which somehow ended up with me making costumes of Halifax. Which is how we've landed here!

Halifax Public Libraries:

Creativity has played a big role in your life growing up, and now you do a lot of costumes inspired by Halifax. What inspires you to make this art?

Colin J Muise:

The first one that I made was Peggy's Cove lighthouse, and it was completely done as a joke. I created it to make a meme of myself, and it was for a Halloween costume. It got a lot of attention online and people really responded to it in a positive way. Since then, I've just followed wherever it's taken me from there. It has kind of naturally progressed, and as I've sought inspiration from the different landmarks and buildings in Halifax—it's kind of come as my skill level with sewing has elevated.

I've really just been following where it takes me, and one of the things that I've learned and become very inspired by is how the unique landmarks and buildings that we have within a community really resonate with people. They're pillars of culture for our little city, but even just outside of Halifax, no one would really appreciate them in the same way. It's not always about picking the like biggest, most tourist-friendly, most photographed landmark. It's about choosing the landmarks that really resonate with the people who live, work, and drive by them all the time. 

Halifax Public Libraries:

Would you say that you have a favourite moment from your costume design journey so far?

Colin J Muise:

Yes, this happened right at the beginning of this creative journey, where I was taking photos at the crack of dawn on Citadel Hill. I'm talking like 5:30-6:00AM because I was so nervous. I would go out with just my camera and tripod, self-time it and stand in front of my camera most of the time. I was really nervous about being like spotted in public—I'm very shy—so early early morning is usually what I aim for.

And so I was standing on Citadel Hill and I got a notification on my phone, and someone had taken a photo of me from like 300 meters away. Like I was just like a spot in the distance and they're like, "Oh my god, I love your costume." I think that was when I realized that I was doing something right? It's like a very cute, early moment of feeling like, 'maybe this is going to be successful.'

Halifax Public Libraries:

That has eventually taken you to Halifax Central Library! You're currently putting together a costume that's inspired by our building. Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process and planning so far?

Colin J Muise:

So the Library has been on my list of Halifax landmarks to create for a long time. Now obviously, it's a really well-loved space. The architecture is very interesting, and it's made a lot of lists for new wave of architecture and top 10 picks. It's been on my list, and people have suggested it over and over again as well.

When I talked a bit earlier about not being as skilled since I'm self-taught, it felt like an impossible challenge. Like, how would you ever make that, and make it as structural as it needs to be? When the Library staff reached out and agreed to work on this together, it felt like it was the right time, that I was equipped to actually make it—though I was maybe a little bit wrong at first.

I spent the winter really struggling to come up with a design that ticks all the boxes for Central Library. The building has very structural sharp corners, thinking of its 3D elements and how they wear on the body, and all of my costumes have this kind of intersection with fashion and style as well. They're not strictly costumes, so it's been a real challenge. We went through a couple of iterations of drafts before we reached something that I think is going to be really good.

Halifax Public Libraries:

Can you tell us a bit more about current version that you're working on?

Colin J Muise:

Sure. So I was looking at the Library and looking at its colours—it's primarily a two tone blue structure. I thought that denim was a really good match for that colour palette, like lighter-washed denim and darker-washed denim. 

That in itself helps build structure to the costume—denim is very structural—and you can overlay it and create really, really robust panels to work with. So that's the direction that I've gone with! It's not as literal of an interpretation of the Library with its clear reflective glass, it's a little bit more of like a fashion play on it. I think it fits really well with my brand, and it looks great the way things are going right now. 

The diagonal weave of the denim almost makes me feel like it's been coloured in with coloured pencil, and I feel like that is like such a cool metaphor for what the Library is as a creative space, full of children, people drawing, and full of life—it feels very youthful. 

Halifax Public Libraries:

We're doing this interview right now in the middle of the Lou Duggan Creative Studio. What are your first impressions?

Colin J Muise:

Before being invited here, I didn't know that this space existed—I'm totally shocked at how well-equipped it is! There's truly a tool for everything that you would want to do creatively. As a creative, when I first started, one of the big barriers was the cost of equipment. I would always be like, "I want to try this but the machine costs $500," or "I want to try soldering wire to make this Library costume, but a soldering iron costs $150." That kind of barrier to accessing creativity can sometimes be a hindrance, and I feel like this space offers nearly everything that you might want to do, play with, or learn about.

So yeah, I'm pretty blown away by it. It's also a very beautiful space to work in with the window light. I think it'll be great to work in this space.

Spring 2024: A work in progress

Along the way, Colin would continue to work on the costume in the Lou Duggan Creative Studio, along with in his personal makerspace! 

Click to expand gallery photos.

From dying denim panels in the sink, to having his kitty at home cozy-up with the design, many hours of hard work and love went into crafting Central Library. Flip through the below gallery for some more behind-the-scenes moments.

Summer 2024: Say hello to Central Library!

Halifax Public Libraries:

The costume is complete! Tell us a little bit about your process, and the finished piece.

Colin J Muise:

So, I think we talked about this a little bit last time, but there were some failures in the beginning that usually don't happen with my costume design process. Usually, I do a prototype that can be edited and salvaged into its final form. For example, usually, the bones of the costume are good, but in this case, that's not how it went at all. I had two fully failed attempts that didn't work because the structure and the composition were difficult to achieve (Note: see the inflatable vinyl version from earlier).

But ultimately, we got there, and that was really when the project kind of started picking up steam! I could see like the final form taking shape, and I could appreciate that it would be a wearable outfit. I started to have a lot more fun with it, and then things happened really quickly to get to the finish line after that.

Halifax Public Libraries:

Is there any aspect of the costume-making or the experience that really stands out to you?

Colin J Muise:

This moment happened right at the end, I ended up painting the whole thing with several coats of varnish to make it glossy like the glass of the Library's window panes. In the past, I've always looked at painting my costumes as like cheating in a way, because I felt like I'm trying to make like a 3D textile-based outfit. I felt like by using paint, what's to stop me then from painting a cardboard box and calling it the Library. But in this case, it really brought the Library to life, and I ended up mixing a little bit of orange to really dilute alcohol-based paint into the varnish to make the orange pop a little bit more. It really came to life and like tied it all together. This moment stands out to me the most, because it felt like the chef's kiss at the end of the project.

Fun Fact: I used over 200 feet of embroidery floss to sew all the black lines. The borders are leather piping trim that I fashioned from an old thrifted jacket, over 60 feet. There's four layers of varnish over the whole garment to give it a glassy shine. 

Halifax Public Libraries:

At the heart of this project has always been creativity, fun, and the importance of access as a creator. Do you have any final thoughts on this, to close out this interview?

Colin J Muise:

I visited the Library a bunch while making the costume as a reference point, but also to see the space and to get inspired by the Lou Duggan Creative Studio. I think access is huge. I gave an artist talk at the Library, opens a new window a while ago before my Nocturne, opens a new window show in 2023, which now that I think of it, was kind of foreshadowing this moment of making the Library costume. It's been very serendipitous having everything come together. Anyhow, someone asked me in that artist talk why I chose to be an artist. It kind of stumped me for a second, but I realized that it's because I've always really wanted to pursue the arts and that creative side of me.

I didn't grow up with very much money. I was in drama, I took art classes, and music classes in school. But when it came time to choose a career path, it didn't feel like pursuing arts was accessible to me because it wasn't the most financially responsible thing to do. I needed a job in a career that would pay the bills first and foremost, and I kind of had based my career around that. I think access is everything, because now it's only now that I'm at like this point in my life that I'm able to pursue this costuming art part of it, and the financial side of it isn't as big of a hurdle for me.

Having a space like the Creative Studio available eliminates such a big barrier for people that would want to just pursue the arts for the fun of it, or to explore a new career in the arts without it needing to be like a big financial burden. Sometimes, arts and crafts can be as simple and cheap as you want, and sometimes there can be like prohibitive costs associated with them like equipment. Having a space where you can create cool things without worrying about that is so important.

See Colin in the stacks

Click to expand gallery photos.