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Mural celebrates people, surroundings of capital region

A splash of colour and artistic talent has been added to the Greater Victoria Public Library’s Central Branch.
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Victoria-based Kwagiulth artist Carey Newman and Peter Fassbender

A splash of colour and artistic talent has been added to the Greater Victoria Public Library’s Central Branch.

The Victoria Foundation unveiled a mural last Thursday painted by several Greater Victoria residents to celebrate the people, surroundings and history of the capital region.

The mural, located outside the Waddington Building complex on Broughton Street, is made of up 864 four-inch square tiles, each painted by residents in the region. It features three Coast Salish-stylized orcas set against the Olympic Mountains as seen from Clover Point by Kwagiulth artist and foundation board member Carey Newman.

Newman, who has been involved in other community art projects, was moved by the hundreds of individual perspectives that culminated into one image.

“It really reflects Victoria. I think it’s all of those individual ideas that make this mosaic the beautiful and special piece that it is,” he said, adding the orcas represent the past, present and future.

“I chose (the orcas) because they’re such an iconic part of the B.C. coast...it’s important as we’re entering our 150th anniversary as a country to look back and see what we’ve been through to acknowledge and take time to feel our present and to look forward.”

Communities minister Peter Fassbender noted the mural will leave a lasting legacy — one residents will be able to show their children and grandchildren in the future.

The mural is the result of a nationwide initiative by Canada 150 Mosaic to commemorate the country’s upcoming 150th anniversary, as well as the foundation’s 80th birthday. Since May 2015, towns, cities and villages across the country have been creating individual murals depicting their community.