{"id":45300,"date":"2018-10-13T14:09:14","date_gmt":"2018-10-13T20:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=45300"},"modified":"2021-02-08T07:48:39","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T14:48:39","slug":"long-fences-make-good-murals-in-calgarys-northern-hills-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2018\/10\/13\/long-fences-make-good-murals-in-calgarys-northern-hills-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Long fences make good murals, in Calgary’s Northern Hills community"},"content":{"rendered":"

C<\/span>oventry Hills is now home to the largest mural in Canada, thanks to one resident\u2019s idea, an artist\u2019s vision and more than 1,000 volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span> mural spanning more than 2,400 feet along the fences beside Coventry Hills Boulevard was completed over August long weekend to celebrate the 25th<\/sup> anniversary of the Northern Hills Community Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The mural was an immediate hit and has also been acclaimed by people living in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks incredible. It\u2019s amazing to see what an idea can turn into, and what a community can do when the people decide to help,\u201d said Michelle Anderson, a 10-year resident of Coventry Hills.<\/p>\n

The unveiling ceremony was held on Sept. 22nd<\/sup>, to honour all the people who helped and celebrate the idea that turned into the largest mural Canada has ever seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose of art is to invite people in. I wanted to help build a sense of community and pride, and help give artists a portfolio,\u201d said Kim Walker, a resident of Coventry Hills for 15 years, in December of 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always thought of fences as a barrier but now a community of fences is a community of murals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea for the mural came from Walker.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019d drive by the fence every evening, I noticed that the sun would always set on it, and it seemed like a great place for art,\u201d she said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\"\"
History of Calgary: <\/strong>A few of the panels along the new mural on Coventry Hills in Calgary on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018. The idea was composed by Kim Walker, and designed by Mark Vazquez-Mackay. (Photo by Brady Claassens\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the time, the fence was not in great shape. It was scratched and deteriorating, and Walker saw this as an opportunity to bring her idea to life.<\/p>\n

Walker wrote a business plan, and set out to look for local companies to help partner with her.<\/p>\n

After getting the city\u2019s approval, Walker had to go door to door to homes along the Coventry Hills Boulevard, to get approval due to the fact they owned the property.<\/p>\n

Along the way Walker reached out to an old art teacher she had at the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD), Mark Vazquez-Mackay<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe originally reached out to me for advice, on supplies and materials,\u201d said Vazquez-Mackay. \u201cBut when I found out the project needed a creative leader I was interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

After consideration from the Northern Hills Community Association (NCHA), Vazquez-Mackay was given the role of lead artist and began to research ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe theme was the history of Calgary, so I began to reach out to people and hear their ideas, and how they wanted to be represented,\u201d said Vazquez-Mackay.<\/p>\n

Three consolations were held, two in person and one online, for people from around the city to come in and pitch ideas.<\/p>\n

Once the research was completed, Vazquez-Mackay began to design 66 panels of art in his home studio.<\/p>\n

Two months went into this prep work, but when it was complete he began to invite artists into his studio to help create the mural.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted all the art to connect together. Including various elements and perspectives was important to us,\u201d Walker said.<\/p>\n

Before work on the fence began it was pressure washed, stripped and primed by volunteers.<\/p>\n

Then from Aug. 4th<\/sup> to 6th<\/sup>, volunteers from around the city came by and help with the painting.<\/p>\n

By the end of the long weekend, the mural was complete. Eight hundred metres of what was once a plain fence, had been transformed into a finished work of art.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was shocking to see months of prep work getting finished in three days, but I\u2019m immensely happy with how it turned out,\u201d said Vazquez-Mackay.<\/p>\n

Walker and Vazquez-Mackay both praised the work of all the volunteers, which included Josh Chilton, a first-year student at ACAD.<\/p>\n

Chilton also lives in Coventry Hills, and was told about the project through an e-mail by ACAD, and he jumped at the opportunity to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent all three days helping, 12 hour days and showing up early and staying late,\u201d said Chilton.<\/p>\n

He took on a leadership role during the painting, and helped with all 15 stations as they worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved to run. Anytime a station needed anything he would run over to help,\u201d Vazquez-Mackay said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Panel by Panel:\u00a0 <\/strong>A section of the mural, designed by Mark Vazquez-Mackay in Calgary on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018. The mural was completed over August long weekend. (Photo by Brady Claassens\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coventry Hills is now home to the largest mural in Canada, thanks to one resident\u2019s idea, an artist\u2019s vision and over 1,000 volunteers. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":484,"featured_media":45370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S1 Coventry Hills Mural","footnotes":""},"categories":[1590,1433,711],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts","8":"category-auarts","9":"category-featured"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/484"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45300"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45882,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45300\/revisions\/45882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}