A festive atmosphere has taken over the normally dreary corner of Abbott and West Hastings streets. A vacant lot still littered with used needles and broken glass is currently the site of a large mural project.

On the sunny afternoon of April 22, artists performing early work on the long brick wall chatted nonchalantly with one another. Around them, a couple of different groups with cameras documented the project’s progress. Locals living in the small high-rises that surround the site dropped by to check out what was going on. And a man with an acoustic guitar played sporadically, sharing whatever music entered his head.

Standing out from the crowd was Shallom Johnson who, as she ran from a basket of paint to the wall and back or climbed scaffolding, revealed a palpable enthusiasm for the project. In a telephone interview the following day, Johnson—who is working on the mural under the alias, Indigo—told the Straight that the project is called Paint Your Faith.

“It’s awesome,” she said about just being able to spend a day in the sunshine painting. “I’ve been inside my studio 24 hours day, seven days a week for the past three months. So this is great.”

Indigo explained that the project is an initiative of the United Church of Canada, but was quick to add that the four artists involved—each tasked with painting their own section of the wall—very much view the project as non-denominational. “[It] is an interpretation of faith based solely on what the artist feels about the concept,” she emphasized.

Indigo spoke on what she has planned for her section of the wall: “The idea that I’m working with is basically, that energy never really ends. Everything is connected and endings are not really endings; they are just transformations into something new or different. And the process of letting go and life having ups and downs and just sort of riding those.”

What’s that going to look like? Indigo described the images in her head that will soon be on display for the public.

“A little girl, about 10 feet tall. She is blowing on a dandelion. And the fluff goes up the wall and changes to leaves that are autumn-coloured. Then they go back down the wall on the other side of Faith’s [another artist’s] piece, and sort of near the bottom, turn into birds. And the birds fly back up the wall and turn into two dancers soaring up at the top of the wall.”

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By April 28, a brick wall at the corner of Abbott and West Hastings streets will be covered by a mural. Travis Lupick photo.

Indigo, a Vancouver local, is working on the mural alongside Peeta from Italy, Titi Freak from Brazil, and Faith 47 from South Africa. (For the Paint Your Faith project, each artist has given themselves an alias, which they are also using for a gallery exhibit running in conjunction with the mural’s creation, and which they use for other works). Overseeing the project is Alan Serpa, who hails from Toronto.

Something of an official unveiling of the mural is scheduled for Wednesday (April 28) at 10 a.m. Paint Your Faith runs at the Ayden Gallery starting tomorrow (April 24) through to May 16. A free opening for the exhibit is scheduled for April 24 at 7 p.m.

You can follow Travis Lupick on Twitter at twitter.com/tlupick.