Boarded-up Gastown business becomes canvas for artists wanting to show appreciation for front-line workers
Murals of gratitude
Boarded-up Gastown business becomes canvas for artists wanting to show appreciation for front-line workers
Maggie MacPherson
Near the end of March, Kim Briscoe took a step back from her framing and art store and was unhappy with what she saw.
The flatiron-style heritage building in the heart of Vancouver’s trendy Gastown neighbourhood was now partly covered in wooden panels.
Like many Vancouver business owners, Briscoe decided to board up her windows to stop looting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mostly blank boards cover the windows of Kimprints in Vancouver on March 31.
"At a distance, I could see how terrible the building looked and it’s such a beautiful building, so I thought, ‘OK, we’ll have to do something about this,'” said Briscoe.
That is when she reached out to local artists to build a creative tribute to the pandemic’s front-line workers.
Kim Briscoe stands in front of the first completed mural.
Emily Carr student Abi Taylor paints B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. 'The doctors are on the front lines right now and they’re the ones risking their lives to save other people. So this is just ... saying thanks for all the work that you guys are doing,' says Taylor.
Artist Breece Austin stands in front of a mural she painted of Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam.
Breece Austin's 17-year-old brother David Austin painted Alberta's provincial health officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
The murals cause many people walking by to stop, smile, and take photos.
Artist Sarah Orsmond's mural is a thank you message to all nurses, doctors, and respiratory therapists.
Orsmond is a first-year visual arts student at Emily Carr.
Artist Finn Rainsley-Ray's abstract piece depicts two doctors attacking the virus. The words 'We will win' are written between them.
Artists Christina Hryc, left, and Olivia Knight recently finished a two-week quarantine after returning from a mural painting trip to Mexico.
Hryc and Knight's mural shows a crow flying with a roll of toilet paper in its talons. The words 'Sharing is caring' are written on the toilet paper.
Briscoe's daughter Sydney Alleyne has painted several of the panels, including one that reminds Vancouverites to celebrate health care workers every night at 7 p.m. from their windows and balconies.
Artist Emerald Repard-Denniston paints a mural with help from her sister Bella. The words are taken from a poem her mother wrote about the pandemic.
One of the more recent additions is a wall of sticky notes. Briscoe noticed a couple of 'thank you' notes left by a stranger on the murals the day before, so she decided to put up an entire wall of them for anyone to write on.
A woman writes, 'Say goodbye coronavirus and hello Corona beer, thanx' on a sticky note.
Izzie Cheung is a respiratory therapist who just finished her first four days at a new full-time job at Vancouver General Hospital. Her graduation was accelerated so she could qualify to help during the pandemic. Cheung says she was excited to do the mural since she is otherwise in isolation. She is painting three of her own colleagues.
Vancouverites can look forward to many more murals like these. Briscoe says that the art has inspired other businesses in Gastown, on Robson Street, and Granville Street to begin calling on artists to cover their shuttered windows.
