The Lake Country Public Art Advisory Commission, in collaboration with the Lake Country Garden Club, put out a Call for Artists in early 2024 to give a fresh face to the 1.150 square foot mural on the cement block retaining wall on the corner of Davidson Road and Bond Road.
Local Okanagan artist, with a fine arts degree (with Distinction) from the University of Victoria, Crystal Przybille, was the successful candidate chosen to refresh the mural that was originally developed as a community participation project in 2013. This high-profile location of a four-way stop at two busy roads, its unique surface and shape, and its proximity to an elementary school, made for an appealing mural painting opportunity. Artists were invited to submit a concept that related to the subject of gardens, growing, and plants.
Sharing details about the mural’s design and meaning contained within the mural proposal, Sharon McCoubrey, Public Art Advisory Commission Chair, said: “The artist acknowledged that the concrete retaining wall is representative of humankind's built environment. As we construct our environment, humans are predisposed to integrate reminders and emulations of the natural world. We pay homage to nature, and create visual reminders in our built structures of the importance of the natural world to human well-being.”
The title Retain/Return speaks of the interplay between the constructed and natural world, and the human need to control and manage, but also to accept and embrace, the natural world and the cycles of which we are part.
“The mural's stylized, organic lines – along with its limited colour palette and grey tones - simultaneously contrast and integrate with the rectangular blocks of the concrete wall. The repetition of shapes and forms in the linework creates patterns like those used in textiles and design,” said artist Crystal Przybille. “Like painted tiles or quilt blocks, the lock-block retaining wall becomes an example of our constructed environment which we adorn with reminders of the natural world - without trying to create an illusion of the natural world.”
The mural design features a number of indigenous and introduced species of local plants and insects and provides opportunities for educational projects for the local elementary schools. Grade and curriculum appropriate activities will be planned that will relate to plants and insects, water management, invasive species, growing cycles, pollinators, agriculture, horticulture, and traditional uses of plants for food and medicine.
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For more information contact:
Sharon McCoubrey, Chair, Public Art Advisory Commission
