Community-painted mural goes up in Campus Bike Centre
Video and interview by Justine Bochenek, Sustainability Intern
July 2019
When was the last time you went down to the Campus Bike Centre? You might notice something new, and it’s not a new bike pump (yet). A brand new mural, designed by UVic Visual Arts student, Meaghan Crow, has been painted on the east wall of the CBC!
At the 2019 Connect-U Staff Conference, UVic staff participated in the paint-by-numbers style activity to fill in Meaghan’s stencil of the mural. Several participants praised the calming nature of the community paint-in, channelling their inner Bob Ross. After two days (May 22-23, 2019), the wall came to life with the help of six groups of five painters; the atmosphere was one of total relaxation. The mural shows a Victoria-like landscape, with mountains in the background and crashing waves in the foreground. The centre of the piece shows three cyclists (with their helmets on!) enjoying their ride. Under the careful guidance of Meaghan, the new mural is truly a celebration of the intersections of art, sustainability and community.
See a time lapse of the two day event below.
We sat down for an interview with the artist, Meaghan Crow, a fourth year Visual Arts student at UVic, whose primary focus is acrylic painting.
Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability: Hi Meaghan! May I ask how long you have been painting for?
Meaghan Crow: Hi! I started painting when I was in the seventh grade, so [she counts on her fingers] almost 10 years.
OCPS: And is there anyone who first influenced you to start painting?
MC: My grandma got me to start painting. She was the first one who went out with me to get supplies and painting books. All my grandparents are very artistic. It’s really just something I’ve always loved and that I’ve always been comfortable with. It’s also something that I’ve always wanted to go to in my spare time, so I wanted to take the time while I’m still young to explore my passion more at UVic.
OCPS: The mural project has been a huge success – how do you feel now that it’s done?
MC: It feels awesome! It’s super cool to see the design go from paper to such a large scale thing. And then to have so many people join in and see their contribution to the project, also feels great. Also, I think the colours turned out really nicely, I like that it’s so bright and makes the space a little more inviting.
OCPS: Lots of people ended up contributing the mural, could you speak a little to the community engagement aspect of the project?
MC: I thought it was a super cool idea to have UVic staff come in and join the “paint-in”. We were trying to encourage more people to start biking and to learn more about the bike centre. Now, when they come down here [to the CBC], they know that its here, and they are able show people that they were part of something cool that took place. I’m also glad that it was really relaxing and enjoyable for the staff to get into as well.
OCPS: Were there any challenges in coordinating a community mural?
MC: No, it went pretty smoothly! Everyone was pretty much able to stay inside the lines and everything.
OCPS: How long did it take you to decide on the final design?
MC: I started working on the design the day we had the meeting with Susan [Kerr of the OCPS] and we had about a few weeks or a month to design it. I just kept going back to it, trying out different designs and ultimately, we came up with this one because it’s simple, it’s easy to do it paint-by-numbers style. It also shows the kind of clean environment that we’re trying to promote, as well as activities where we don’t have to use cars. A nice, simple Victoria landscape.
OCPS: Considering that CBC houses all things cycling on campus, how do you hope that art and sustainable transportation or sustainability in general can intersect?
MC: I think it’s really awesome that art and painting can bring awareness to certain issues without having to read scholarly papers; it’s a fast way to get information to the viewer. Also it’s important that the message can be spread on such a large scale when it’s in a public space.
OCPS: I just have one more question, are you a cyclist?
MC: I am not an avid cyclist. My bike is a little small for me because I’ve had it since grade 5! But I would definitely like to get back into it. I’d like to do lots more bike rides this summer and maybe I can even bring my bike in the fall since I know about the bike centre.
For more of Meaghan’s work, you can visit her website at http://meaghancrow.com/ or her Instagram @meaghancrowsartwork. You can also follow @greenuvic or visit uvic.ca/sustainability/ for all other sustainability related projects, events or news items.
Click here to read the Fine Arts Blog Post on the Community Mural Art Project too!