The executive director of Vernon Public Art Gallery says interest has been high in a controversial mask exhibit that is proposed to include 11 new murals in downtown Vernon.

"We're not sure what the results are yet, but we've certainly been getting a lot of feedback," Dauna Kennedy said Tuesday, the last day of the gallery's public consultation process.

City council sent the mural project back to the gallery for a two-week consultation period after an initial negative reaction to the 'Behind the Mask' murals.

The project is a collaboration between the gallery and Turning Points Collaborative Society, which works with the at-risk and homeless population.

It would see murals at locations across downtown, taken from photographs of the makers of the masks, which they created themselves as part of a mental health project through Turning Points.

When the project received initial approval at council, many said the murals would be too jarring a break from Vernon's much-loved historically themed murals and may scare young children.

However, Kennedy says she's been "really happy with the conversation that has come through this project."

She says there has been a steady stream of people coming through the gallery over the two-week period.

Without doubt, it's the largest conversation Vernon has had about art in many years.

"Some are coming in with their minds made up ... others, either it's reinforcing what they thought, or some people it's changing their minds because what they are seeing here is not what they had gathered through social media."

A laptop was set up at the gallery for the consultation period so visitors could take a survey on the mural project.

While members of council lauded the spirit behind the project, some criticized the lack of public engagement before the murals were announced.

The project is expected to come back before council at its next meeting on July 18.

Meanwhile, competing petitions for and against the murals continue to draw support online.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition against the murals had 3,995 names, while the petition in favour had 1,555.

If approved, the temporary murals would remain up for five years.

The Behind the Mask exhibition runs until July 19 at the gallery.