Hello Arts & Culture Community,
It’s spring out there, and we’re eager to share some new art projects to enrich Nanaimo’s public spaces. Soon, new anti-graffiti wraps by Sebastian Abboud will be hitting three downtown locations to inject colour and to address graffiti on utility bins. This is a pilot project, and one we hope to expand. We are in the process of developing an Urban Design Roster to gather portfolios and expressions of interest from artists and designers interested to undertake civic infrastructure design challenges. We will be launching the program with an open call to artists and designers later this year, in tandem with our updated Temporary Public Art Program.
At Beban Park Pool, the work to continues on a new project by artist Eliot White-Hill, called Sacred Gathering of Freshwater and Saltwater. With designer Cory Landels and input from Snuneymuxw leaders, we are working with White-Hill to craft interpretive signage and a printed booklet to accompany a series of murals and new banners. Look forward to seeing Hul’q’umi’num words and stories at the pool when this newly refreshed facility reopens for the community.
We are also eagerly awaiting this season’s street banners, designed by Becky Thiessen, which will begin hitting lampposts throughout town in early May! The designs, based on ideas about the future of Nanaimo, bring colourful renderings of the estuary and cedar boughs together with our urban spaces.
With many new things on the horizon in the realm of public art, we are also launching the City’s new Art in Public Spaces Working Group. Consider applying and sharing it with your circles.
Image: Anti-graffiti wrap by Sebastian Abboud, 2021
