Adventure Clothing is making the best of a bad situation.
In the early morning hours of January 19th, someone smashed one of the massive windows that look into Adventure Clothing, a popular Victoria downtown retailer.
Owner Jennifer Robinson was forced to put up plywood where her beloved floor-to-ceiling window once was.
Given that the window that was smashed was so massive, the replacement will take up to a month and a half to be installed by First Response Glass.
Robinson chose to ‘sweeten the bitter pill’ and hire a local artist to beautify the plywood on Adventure Clothing’s Yates Street storefront.
She hired Meaghan Crow.
Crow is a visual artist who recently graduated from UVic with honours for her BFA in visual arts. She also works at a local studio that is known for their well-doing and charitable causes, Studio 106 in James Bay.
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Crow was chosen to do the mural on Adventure Clothing because one of Robinson’s employees had worked with her while she was still attending UVic and recommended her for the role.
“It’s quite a big piece, so it seemed like quite the thing to organize,” Crow told Victoria Buzz. “It was a good size piece to finish in one day so that was awesome.”
Crow said she took inspiration from the wilderness Vancouver Island has to offer adventure seekers which aligned with Adventure Clothing’s brand for the mural.
“We collaborated a lot and obviously they’re big thing is promoting travel and that sort of west coast scenery,” said Crow.
“I drew up a few ideas and [Adventure Clothing] was into the mountain and the forest. Kind of reminiscent of local scenes and I put the airplane in so that you’re still kind of flying through.”
Crow was happy to have the opportunity to have her artwork on display in such a prominent downtown location especially with her first local solo exhibition coming up.
“I’ve got my card and stickers and stuff at Studio 106, but I don’t have any original paintings at the moment because I’m getting ready for a solo exhibition,” said Crow. “So I’m kind of saving all my works to put on display there.”
“For the last little while I’ve just been trying to hone in my style and getting my work out there a bit more, especially with my exhibition coming up.”
“That’ll be really exciting,” Crow told Victoria Buzz.
Her artwork will be on display at the Staying Creative Gallery in Brentwood Bay from March 3rd to April 2nd.
Crow’s art can also be found and purchased on her website and at Levity Gallery in Nelson.
