Olympics

Granville Street mural to get Olympic facelift

by Miranda Nelson on January 18th, 2010 at 4:43 PM
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      A mural in downtown Vancouver is getting a facelift in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

      Environmental artist Wyland will be restoring his 670 sq. metre Vancouver Island Orcas mural in a collaboration with the Robert Bateman Get to Know program, an international organization committed to connecting children with nature. The mural, located at 1290 Granville Street, was originally painted in 1994 as part of Wyland's Whaling Wall project, a series of 100 ocean-themed murals spanning 79 cities in 13 countries worldwide.

      According to Get to Know's Web site, Wyland will be adding the Olympic rings to this landmark.

      Wyland was on-hand at a rededication ceremony that took place at noon today (January 18) along with officials from the City of Vancouver, officials from Vancouver's sister city (and Wyland's home) Los Angeles, and members of Parks Canada and the U.S. Forest Service.


      Follow Miranda Nelson on Twitter @charenton_.

      Comments

      10 Comments

      Lynn Kenneth Pecknold

      Jan 18, 2010 at 6:22pm

      It is moving that Wyland has painted 100 murals around the world dedicated to the orca whale for no charge. The secret of living is giving. How can I help?

      whenitfits

      Jan 19, 2010 at 9:02am

      This is just another example of a corporation co-opting community assets. And shame on the artist for allowing this propaganda on his art.

      Ajoe1982

      Jan 19, 2010 at 3:54pm

      Yes, shame on this artist for allowing "propaganda" on his "art". I'm sure if he had objections to this "propaganda", he wouldn't be taking part.

      Perhaps he, unlike you, is a believer in some value that he sees in the Olympics. Thank you for judging him for the decision. I'm glad you could be so closed-minded in condemning him, yet so open-minded in co-opting his art for a community that you may or may not represent with your views. I, for one, will be enjoying the refurbished murals.

      Keep It Local

      Jan 19, 2010 at 4:41pm

      That mural is so cheesy, and why put rings on it? Anyway, much like that giant Hawaiian shirt they put on the VAG recently I would love to see some local art on our walls for a change.

      art lover

      Jan 19, 2010 at 9:34pm

      What, they didn't paint it all blue? How unfitting, blue monochrome was good enough to spruce up the local artists murals!

      miguel

      Jan 20, 2010 at 7:31am

      The orcas need some rings to jump through!
      Miguel

      Margaret

      Jan 26, 2010 at 10:18am

      The orcas mural is kitschy but it's part of Vancouver history now and at least references one of the more beautiful features of our environment. The Olympics has nothing to do with this mural. Why not paint the coca-cola logo on local trees, too? Most of us now consider the Olympics just another commercial brand and certainly a bad corporate citizen. Its stomping of our rights to free speech and travel through our own city are one of the few instances we have of the way big corporations operate in the developing countries that produce all our goods, and I'm sure most of us would like to forget it as soon as possible. When the Olympics are over I'd like to see them vanish from Vancouver without a trace, taking all their logos with them. NO to those fascistic-looking rings on our orca mural. I was in Nagano a few years ago and they've managed to expunge every trace of the Olympics from their beautiful city, though the people still complain about the debt.

      Pure Painters

      Jan 29, 2010 at 10:45am

      WOW! Kind of a bummer to see the negative comments on our hard work. Did you know that it took about 500 hours of work, and $6000 in materials for our company to make a lasting product? Wyland did it for free too. Not a cent of city money went towards this. I for one feel very proud of the Mural and I thank Vancouver for it's support. Without your support projects like this wouldn't be possible. Please leave a comment if you like our pledge. http://community.purepainters.com/

      Zan

      Jan 31, 2010 at 5:56am

      where is it?