Mural art and sustainability

By Susan Kerr, Sustainability Coordinator

February 2016

As of fall 2015, the Campus Bike Centre had been open for 2 years. The Office of Campus Planning & Sustainability (OCPS) wished to celebrate the cycling hub’s birthday during Sustainability Week (October 13-16) – and what better way than commissioning a wall mural to bring colour and creativity into the bike amenities space.

Fourth-year visual arts student Kyra McLeod was OCPS’s first Artist-in-Residence, and her mural is the first of its kind on campus. McLeod set out to transform a 20-metre concrete wall into an abstract mural showing the links between urbanization, sustainability, cycling and art. Her beautiful and colourful mural gained much of attention from local media, such as with the Times Colonist newspaper and Shaw TV. Read more about Kyra’s creative approach for her mural on UVic’s Fine Arts blog.

McLeod managed many aspects of the project including providing a mock-up of the mural painting, staying within the materials budget, picking up supplies, and working on the mural each day during Sustainability Week until it was complete. She also received academic credit for her mural through the School of Visual Arts, thus exemplifying a wonderful experiential learning opportunity. This project was McLeod’s first public art display and mural, and her works can be viewed on her website.

This mural project highlighted the links that exist between UVic academia, operations, and administration. The Office of Campus Planning & Sustainability would very much like to commission another student-artist mural project in the near future.

Stages of painting a mural

After completing the mock-up, gathering supplies, and preparing the wall, McLeod was on her way ...

Day 1

Day 2

Day 6