If you drove along Burnside Road this past weekend, the beginnings of a new art piece may have caught your eye along your route.
The mural of a young girl with a sunflower is currently in progress outside of Cycles West at 100 Burnside Road West. The artwork, when complete, is set to span across the entire south side of the building.
The artist undertaking this large project is Paul Archer of Archer Airbrushing.
Archer is well known for his larger than life work and has been painting murals locally, in Vancouver and internationally since the 1980’s.
The mural hopes to bring a sense of hope and positivity after the past sixteen months.
The Burnside Road mural is a project of the Gorge Tillicum Community Association (GTCA).
For over twenty years, the GTCA has hosted the Gorge Canada Day Picnic celebrations. However, with this year’s event being cancelled, the GTCA wanted to do something different.
This year, $5,000 of past revenue from Gorge Canada Day Picnics was issued into an art fund by the GTCA along with funding from the CRD arts commission, the District of Saanich and community members through a GoFundme to bring the mural to life.
The GoFundme began with a goal of $7,000 to complete the project, with donations past that amount to go toward future projects for the community.
“We really see this project as the beginning of a series of art installations,” said Vera Wynn-Williams, President of the GTCA, “There are just so many wonderful possibilities that could enhance our neighbourhood.”
At the time of publication, the GoFundme had raised over $4K of it’s $7K goal.
You can find Paul Archer’s work on his Instagram.
