INTERNATIONAL FEATURE JACKIE HALIBURTON POSES OUTSIDE HER CLOSED-UP GASTOWN APPAREL STORE ANGEL VANCOUVER. THE MURAL BEHIND HER WAS PAINTED BY BREECE AUSTIN. JACKIE HALIBURTON POSES OUTSIDE HER CLOSED-UP GASTOWN APPAREL STORE ANGEL VANCOUVER. THE MURAL BEHIND HER WAS PAINTED BY BREECE AUSTIN. IN VANCOUVER, ART PLAYS A PART DURING COVID-19 SHUTDOWN Local artists transform boarded-up shops in Vancouver neighbourhood Gastown with colourful public health messages in a heart-warming show of community and support in the face of the coronavirus crisis. STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOAZ JOSEPH EVEN IN THE CASE OF EMERGENCY, Kim Briscoe wasn’t interested in breaking glass. On 28 March, six days after the closure of Kimprints — her Gastown arts supply and framing store—to avoid break-ins and vandalism, like other merchants around the iconic sixstory Hotel Europe, she boarded up. The COVID-19 shutdown had reached the business 8 DENVER VOICE June 2020 community of Vancouver neighborhood Gastown. “When this all started happening, we lasted as long as we could,” she notes. “Our last day was the 22nd [of March], but there was nobody coming in. Everybody was told to go home and stay home.” Briscoe’s shop sits where Carrall, Alexander, and Powell Streets intersect a few steps away from the statue of Gassy Jack. She’d been paying close attention to the novel coronavirus news coming out of China and Italy and expected the worst for Gastown’s residents. But she didn’t like the ugly, derelict new look of her shuttered business. After thinking overnight about what to do, Briscoe reached out to her contacts in the arts community. “We boarded up on the 28th and started painting on the 30th,” she says. The first, and most iconic of the images, was the face of Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, painted by artist Breece Austin. “I thought, ‘okay, that’s pretty good. That looks better’,” Briscoe recalls. Word got around, and portraits of other health officials soon appeared: BC Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry (painted by abstract artist and Breece’s friend Abi Taylor); Alberta’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw (painted by Breece’s brother David Austin); and across the street at the Angel Vancouver clothing store, Federal Minister of Health Patty Hajdu (also painted by Breece Austin). Izzie Cheung (@this_iz_art on Instagram) a recently graduated respiratory therapist who works at Vancouver General Hospital, painted the masked faces of three coworkers, Andrew, Natasha, and Kenny, all in light-blue scrubs. While artists put their portrait stills to work on the wooden panels, other participants, including non-artists, worked on messaging, with thank-you notes and advice for passers-by. “We love you Vancouver,” wrote Briscoe’s daughter (and non-artist) Sydney Alleyne, 18, on one of her murals. “Stay safe, stay strong.” Another posting by Alleyne thanked garbage collectors and janitors, pharmacists, postal workers, teachers, grocery store workers, and delivery drivers. A few blocks away, artist James “Smokey D” Hardy, known locally for his visual messages about drug overdoses, targeted the marginalized population of the Downtown Eastside with a COVID-19 mural featuring warnings about flattening the curve, keeping distance from others, washing hands, and not touching one’s face. “It may seem surreal, but it’s not,” he wrote, signing off, “Love to all, Smokey.” The Gastown Business Improvement Society (GBIS) rallied to the cause with appeals to owners of the closed stores asking for permission for artists to decorate the plywood covering their storefronts. “While I’m personally doing well, my heart went out to the businesses,” says GBIS Executive Director Stefanie Schulz, who says more than 20 stores quickly got involved. About 35 murals are now up in the community, with more expected. Some locals, in coordination with GBIS, donated supplies such as hand sanitizer, ladders, and food vouchers. “This is a story of true community resilience,” adds Schulz. Public attention to the project brought in more artists and support from Dulux Paints and the City of Vancouver, which teamed up to launch the Give a Hand Mural Program, which provides up to $400 in paints and supplies to artists who sign up for the project. Lisa Parker, branch manager of Street Activities in the city’s engineering department, says she got on board as soon as she saw the murals of Drs. Tam and Henry in the first week of April.
9 Publizr Home