Work has begun on a new mural at the Yates Street Community Garden, on the west-facing exterior wall of 1030 Yates Street. Sower (working title) was designed by artist Jesse Campbell and incorporates feedback from the community. Below is a digital mock-up of the design:
Here is Jesse's artist statement for the piece:
"This mural was inspired by the creation stories from my ancestry as a Métis/Cree/Salteaux person. The creation story has been adapted to reference the garden as a place of stewardship and tenderness. As the gardens are cared for they are engaging in a timeless act of reciprocity. Each garden plot is an extension of the act of care, creation and stewardship with the land and its creatures. The lower level has been left intentionally blank in order for the canopy of the trees to extend and intercept the line of sight of the viewer. In the design there is Fireweed, Camas, and Fawn Lilly, Magnolia, and Swallowtail butterfly."
Earlier this week, Jesse started mapping out a doodle grid sketch on the wall. The doodle grid acts as a guideline for laying out the dimensions and outlines of the design. Jesse will digitally overlay the outlines of the design over top of a photo of the doodle grid matrix and use the doodle lines as a “connect the dots” method for scaling. The process will save some time on the lift for scaling the dimensions of the design.
We will be hosting a couple of public events during the installation, which is scheduled to be completed by June 28th. Keep an eye on our website for more details.