New mural makes outdoor space more vibrant

Last year, UBCO’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) students painted their largest mural Wild Horses, in the parking lot of the Landmark District Market parking lot.

This year, 21 talented BFA students have expanded their creative footprint by painting a new mural that spans two walls along the laneway and part of the parking garage. The vibrant artwork now sits along the location that hosts Kelowna’s Farmers Market.

“We have a lot of people going from one side of the farmers market to the other. So when we were thinking about what to paint, we were like, ‘what if we looked at something about Kelowna’s farming,” UBCO Fine Arts Lecturer David Doody told Kelowna10. “We take an unused wall that's the back of a building where no one's really doing anything with it, so we come in and make this a beautiful canvas.”

That 'beautiful canvas' is the fifth in their flora and fauna series.

The imagery is inspired by the bright colours of spring in the orchards of the Okanagan.

"We were seeing all of these blooming orchard blossoms and the return of the birds in spring, the sound of the birds, and then we thought, this is what we should paint this is what the magic is every year," Doody explained. "We painted a Western Tanager, it’s a songbird that comes to the Okanagan every summer. And we painted large orchard blossom. It's all connected by branches that hold these beautiful, fragrant blossoms and then sound of the beautiful bird music."

While numerous murals around Kelowna bring life and colour into various areas, Doody explains these giant works of art also create a lasting positive impact in the community.

"It brings people together to talk about things, it inspires people, it gives people a little smile, and a sense of imagination,” he said. “Those kinds of things are what bring communities together and being able to have art and public spaces is just too fantastic.”

Check out the video to discover what it depicts and how it came to life.