A project to create a mural on Island Savings Credit Union's parking lot wall



Salt Spring Island is promoted as a nature paradise and an Art Lover’s Getaway.

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We attract people from around the world interested in the beauty and diversity of nature and art.

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We publicize our galleries, Studio Tour, Festival of the Arts, ArtSpring, Artcraft and the many artists who
 live and work here.

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Yet we have very little Public Art!



The parking lot wall today
Click to enlarge





Help support the vision
Sappire
 20 sq ft+
 $1000+
Emerald
 10-20 sq ft
 $500+
Ruby
 5-10 sq ft
 $250+
Pearl
 1-5 sq ft
 $50+
Amber
 up to 1 sq ft
 $1+





The vision for the wall
Click to enlarge

Public Art

One of the most important functions of public art is to open up sites and give communities a sense these places belong to them.  Again and again studies document that when a public area looks neglected, unloved and uncared for it will slowly deteriorate. If areas are tended, “beautified” and enjoyed, they improve. Public art reduces graffiti and vandalism as well as promoting pride in a transformed public space.


Art has the power to   interest,   inspire,   educate   and   transform.


To this end the Salt Spring Butterflyers would like to introduce you to the Salt Spring Butterfly Mural Project, a planned mural for the wall of the Credit Union parking lot on McPhillips Avenue. Island Savings Credit Union has donated the wall and is a major supporter, a Sapphire Sponsor, of the project.

Downtown Ganges, as the commercial centre of the island, has an opportunity to create public art in the form of this mural. It can present visitors and islanders of all ages a unique portrait of Salt Spring wildlife. The mural will  capture a moment on one sunny day in the lives of 25 beautiful local butterflies.


The Muralists

Two well known professional artists living on Salt Spring, Amarah Gabriel and Timothy Hume will design and paint the mural. In the year 2000 they designed and completed the Landmark Mural on a decommissioned Can-buoy marker for the Harbour Authority. The buoy, once moored at the mouth of the Skeena River, became the canvas for scenes of west coast marine life. It is now an admired piece of public art in the heart of Ganges.

Timothy also worked with three other artists to paint a large mural at the Forest Interpretive Centre in Tofino.


Getting Youth Involved

Another component of the Butterfly Mural Project is to have senior secondary students working with the artists. Amarah and Timothy will involve the students in the making of the mural while teaching them research, design, and painting skills.

We hope to foster good will among this age group, encouraging participants to become good stewards of the earth, and when the mural is finished, to be good stewards of the public art they helped create.


Why Butterflies?

An important concern on Salt Spring is preserving our natural environment, locating and monitoring fragile eco-systems and protecting biodiversity. Many groups provide information or programs to teach islanders about the complex natural world surrounding us.

The Salt Spring Butterflyers’ particular focus is monitoring island butterfly populations and helping islanders appreciate and understand these remarkable insects. Butterflies are a perfect subject for large and bold representation in the mural format.


A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The mural will feature habitat, life cycles, and the adult form of 25 species. Included are rare and “at risk” butterflies such as the Zerene Fritillary, Propertius Duskywing and Dun Skipper. An accurate portrayal of local butterflies will help people recognize them. It will promote conservation by illustrating important native larval food plants and nectar sources as well as plants we can grow in our gardens to support eggs, larvae, adults and the chrysalis stage of a butterfly species.                 

We all love images and learn from them. Joining art and education makes sense!


We Need Your Help

To create this exciting portrait of island butterflies, our jewels-of-the-air, we need your help!
You can sponsor the painting of the mural at $50 a square foot, the total area being approximately 310 sq ft.  Five levels of sponsorship are represented in the chart on the left.

A bank account has been set up at Island Savings for donations: # 1715390.

Butterfly Mural supporters will be acknowledged on a permanent plaque designed as part of the project. For more info call 653-9699, 537-0051 or go to www.ssbutterflyers.org.