UBCO visual art students unveil new Landmark District mural

UBC Okanagan visual arts students work on the newest Public Art Project mural that was inspired by the bright colours of spring in the orchards of the Okanagan. This year’s mural will be officially unveiled Friday afternoon.

What: Landmark mural unveiling
Who: UBCO visual arts students and faculty, local contributors and stakeholders
When: Friday, June 21, from 3 to 5 pm
Where: Landmark District parking lot, 1717 Harvey Ave., Kelowna

Embracing the sights and sounds of an Okanagan spring, the fifth mural painted by UBC Okanagan visual arts students will be celebrated this Friday. Twenty students enrolled in the course have been busy painting a new mural in the Landmark District, throughout May and June.

UBCO’s visual arts students collaborated with instructors David and Jorden Doody to paint another colourful, large-scale mural, adjacent to the Wild Horses mural that was painted last summer. This community-orientated program, first developed in 2019, gives students the experience of 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, explains David Doody.

The site of this year’s mural is the perfect location for the Public Art Project to continue to build and expand the urbanization of the Landmark District with vibrant street art, he adds.

“With the re-location of Kelowna’s Farmer Market to the Landmark District we have an opportunity to create an artistic intervention that will impact thousands of visitors each year. We have transformed this concrete laneway into an artistic masterpiece that visitors can walk right into.”

The inspiration for the 2024 mural is the great symphony of colour and sound that returns each spring to the orchards of the Okanagan—a symbol of renewal and rebirth, explains Jorden Doody.

“Looking up through a criss-cross lattice of branches, the bright blue spring sky carries a fragrant explosion of soft pink orchard blossoms, while a lively chorus of western tanager songs fill the air,” she says.

The public is invited to be on hand for the launch of the completed mural on Friday at the Landmark District Market parking lot from 3 to 5 pm.

The students and instructors will be on hand to answer questions.

David Doody is currently a Lecturer in the visual arts program in UBCO’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies and a 2008 alumnus. Jorden Doody recently completed her Master of Fine Arts and is also a graduate of UBCO’s Master of Fine Arts program. Together, they run Fresh West Official and coordinate the Uptown Mural Project in Rutland.