A few weeks ago, I volunteered to work on the Peace Mural being put together out at View Royal Elementary. This is a project of the Creative Peace Mural Society and is one of many they have facilitated in communities all over the world. I felt very fortunate to be able to participate locally and hope to eventually join the team on one of their overseas projects.
A large percentage of children who attend View Royal are First Nations and the school is located on traditional Coast Salish territory. Accordingly, First Nations artists Butch Dick and Darlene Gait were commissioned to design the main elements of the piece. The school children and members of the Songhees nation had the opportunity to add elements to the mural which was then assembled and sewn together by volunteers and the core members of the society. The "unveiling" is to take place at the end of the month and I can't wait to see the whole piece hanging in all its glory.
The mural was cut, assembled and sewn together in under a month, an amazing feat considering nobody gets paid. The international murals are completed on a three week schedule and given this narrow window, the method of construction had to be simple enough for speed without compromising aesthetic values. Local textile artist Carole Sabiston came up with an ingenious technique which involves layering up all the elements of the design, covering them with a layer of tulle netting and quilting through all layers with lines of zigzag machine stitch. The tulle has the added benefit of blending out the starker contrasts and marrying disparate materials into a pleasing composition.
The murals are made up of several panels which hang side by side which means that each panel can be rolled and the entire mural packed into a smallish box for transport...very practical for travelling exhibitions. The plan is to have representative murals from each continent shown together at the 2012 Olympics in London.
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