Arts and Culture

First annual mural festival in Peachland

Bringing together community through art

Creating a vibrant community and celebrating public art is what a festival in Peachland is doing this weekend.

The inaugural Making Waves Mural Festival is taking place at the community centre where activities are being hosted, including music performances and an artisan market.

“Anything that brings community together is a good thing and Peachland has a lot of artists who live here and a lot of artists who make their living here,” Alex Morrison, one of the organizers told Kelowna10. “A lot of people get intimidated going into art galleries… but street art is art for everybody.”

The event is being put on by Peachland Community Connects (PCC), a local non-profit that aims to increase the sense of community in the town through events and activities.

“We appreciate a lot of things that bigger cities have and when you have them on a smaller scale it’s more meaningful, so you can make real good connections with people in the community,” she said. “We have probably the best view of Okanagan Lake in the whole valley, big beaches, a walkable community, and lots of restaurants.”

A public art initiative took place as part of the festival, where three walls in downtown were painted with beautiful murals, including the pharmacy and medical centre, as well as the Royal Canadian Legion. The PCC hopes to create an outdoor art gallery in the future and have new murals created every few years.

Three artists were chosen to produce the pieces, each one telling a unique story that relates to Peachland and the surrounding area.

One artist, Nereo Zorro, was born and raised in Winnipeg and came to the Okanagan to paint his mural at the pharmacy.

“I like taking experiences and hearing life stories and then putting that into the piece, they all kind of merge into one, and it still leaves room for interpretation,” Zorro said. “[The organizers] believe artists create their best work when they internalize whatever experiences they’re going through and then put it out into the painting.”

His painting featured a portrait of one of his friends who is from Ukraine, where her father and brother are currently fighting in the war. Surrounding her are flowers, hummingbirds, bees, and geometrical shapes, with a peach-coloured sun setting behind her.

“I’m inspired by nature [and] I’m inspired by people,” he explained. “I like infusing a whole bunch of stories together.”

Zorro said he was traditionally trained in drafting and building design but wanted to do something more creative with his life. He’s been creating art with aerosol cans for over 15 years and said it has been great connecting with people in the community to talk about art and hear their stories.

The festival runs from Sept. 2 – 4.

Published 2022-09-03 by Jordan Brenda

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