UBCO students create mural in Kelowna

UBC Okanagan (UBCO) fourth-year visual arts students have installed a mural in the Lower Mission area of Kelowna.

The mural went up on the corner of Pandosy St. and West Ave, and Visual Arts Instructor David Doody said the work provides a “great deal of value to UBCO’s Bachelor of Fine Arts students.”

In a release, the University stated that students involved in the project gained experience working with a diverse range of technologies including projectors and mechanical lifts, while also learning a variety of paint applications and techniques common to mural painting.

“Murals are great ways for artists to collaborate with other artists and non-artists to create a visually encapsulating culture and community,” said Doody in the release.

This is the third year the Okanagan campus has offered the mural course, and this piece builds off the theme of sensitive habitats and ecosystems of the Okanagan established in two previous murals in downtown Kelowna. Each piece depicts local flora and fauna to bring awareness to the area’s sensitive habitats.

“Our design this year features a large western painted turtle, showing it as the sun sets in a very calm surreal setting,” noted Doody.

The nine students involved in the project began work on the mural in early May, and the school will hold an official unveiling of the completed mural on Thursday.

UBCO’s department of Creative Studies partnered with the Stober Group to support this year’s mural course.

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