Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition is proud to unveil a brand new community mural at their new office on Hillside Avenue and Fifth Street!
Painting the mural was a community collaboration, with mural artist Kay Gallivan timing the painting of the mural to coincide with the Hillside-Quadra Collective’s “Out There Arts Festival”. Community members were encouraged to grab a brush and help out!
This community mural brought Hillside-Quadra neighbours together through the painting of an undersea scene full of colourful fish and octopus’ riding bicycles, a wheelchair, and a skateboard. The undersea scene, designed by Gallivan, depicts some of the diverse ways residents in the Hillside-Quadra neighbourhood get around and express themselves.
“The mural reflects the creative connections humans have with nature and the ways in which we are all connected to one another and our environment through modes of active transportation, art, and our own imaginations,” explains Sara Lax, Event Coordinator for the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition.
Kay Gallivan, mural artist and community mural workshop director, describes the workshop, “I think it is really cool that the Cycling Coalition decided to spark conversation about sustainable transportation by painting this mural. Having it as a workshop gave local residents the opportunity to learn, play, and do something constructive together – and the mural was so much better for having been done together. It was so inspiring to see such talent and hard work!”
The Coalition is immensely grateful to the City of Victoria who made this project possible through their My Great Neighbourhood Grant program. The Coalition would also like to extend a heartfelt ‘Thank you’ to the owners and staff at Fifth Street Bar and Grill who provided dinner to the volunteers and enthusiastically encouraged the painters.
For more information, visit: @BiketoWorkVic on Instagram and Facebook.
For more information about the artist, visit: https://www.kaygallivan.com