Artists have begun working on the concrete wall under the Nelson bridge as the Colours of Nelson project has started to come to life.
The initiative which began in early March brought together the Nelson Police Department, Rotary Club and artists to discuss a new public art project for the wall.
“In the public space I feel like we could do a lot more,” said local artist and project mentor Amber Santos. “Anyone who has travelled internationally can see that murals, graffiti and street art is around the world and it’s raw, alive and exciting and never before have people been doing such interesting large scale works.”
Santos — who was born and raised in the Nelson area — became involved in the project after returning to Nelson from Brazil where she said graffiti in all its forms is illegal.
“I experienced a transformation in Brazil when I was there because graffiti is illegal,” she said. “The actual definition of it is that it is illegal painting. In the city I lived in for seven years, through really good media, conversations, dialogue and actions in communities, people started to get to know graffiti as an artistic practice and that opened up doors for graffiti artists to have conversations with people and get permission to do stuff.”
Santos said the Nelson police became involved in the project after they identified tagging as a problem.
“They thought they could support an initiative instead of going from the policing side of things — something that would open up space for the youth to be expressive,” she said.
After a round table meeting in March, a group of artists began working with mentors like Santos to create designs and a plan for the concrete wall.
“We took the themes discussed in the meeting and picked out four that the mentors identified as ones we’d be really confident to work with,” said Santos.
“From there we met with the group and got a chance to get to know each other and talked more about the process. Everyone then went away for a week and did lots of drawings and came back. It was like an art critique where we could see what everyone was working on and give feedback.”
The group began the project earlier this week.
The public is invited to come down and see the progress of the mural as the artists work.
If you’re interested in supporting the project or have more information email amberinha@gmail.com or sserjaos@hotmail.com
The initiative which began in early March brought together the Nelson Police Department, Rotary Club and artists to discuss a new public art project for the wall.
“In the public space I feel like we could do a lot more,” said local artist and project mentor Amber Santos. “Anyone who has travelled internationally can see that murals, graffiti and street art is around the world and it’s raw, alive and exciting and never before have people been doing such interesting large scale works.”
Santos — who was born and raised in the Nelson area — became involved in the project after returning to Nelson from Brazil where she said graffiti in all its forms is illegal.
“I experienced a transformation in Brazil when I was there because graffiti is illegal,” she said. “The actual definition of it is that it is illegal painting. In the city I lived in for seven years, through really good media, conversations, dialogue and actions in communities, people started to get to know graffiti as an artistic practice and that opened up doors for graffiti artists to have conversations with people and get permission to do stuff.”
Santos said the Nelson police became involved in the project after they identified tagging as a problem.
“They thought they could support an initiative instead of going from the policing side of things — something that would open up space for the youth to be expressive,” she said.
After a round table meeting in March, a group of artists began working with mentors like Santos to create designs and a plan for the concrete wall.
“We took the themes discussed in the meeting and picked out four that the mentors identified as ones we’d be really confident to work with,” said Santos.
“From there we met with the group and got a chance to get to know each other and talked more about the process. Everyone then went away for a week and did lots of drawings and came back. It was like an art critique where we could see what everyone was working on and give feedback.”
The group began the project earlier this week.
The public is invited to come down and see the progress of the mural as the artists work.
If you’re interested in supporting the project or have more information email amberinha@gmail.com or sserjaos@hotmail.com