The Kamloops Back Alley Art Gallery will see three new additions this year.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED- Downtown Kamloops
July 02, 2019 - 6:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - The summer mural season will soon be in full swing. The Back Alley Art Gallery will see three new murals painted this year, and the artist selection process is underway.
Downtown Kamloops has selected two artists assistants for the role, which is the trickiest part of the creation process, according to Jake Andrykew, the mural project coordinator.
“There was a call for artists put out on all of our social media but the artist assistant [position] has been more on the forefront because it’s a lot more difficult to find artists' assistants with the qualifications, whereas artists we're always in talks with,” says Andrykew.
Andrykew says that one person has been verified, with one other in the process of being hired. Both assistants are women. They will get paid $560 a week for roughly 14 weeks of work.
“Both of the assistants will be assisting the lead artists on all of the murals were doing throughout the summer,” says Andrykew. “It is our hope to have them started to be painted by mid-July.”
The three new murals will be painted in locations that have not yet been disclosed. The businesses that own the large brick canvases will work with artists to determine what the murals will look like.
“We’re in talks with property and business owners as they both have a stake in what they want the wall to look like, to see what they want in terms of artists, and what their vision for the mural is,” says Andrykew. “Once they determine that vision, we’ll approach them with portfolios of different artists and see which artists style match with their vision.”
One of the first muralists selected is Zach Abney, who brought his creativity to the city’s alleys last summer. Abney planned and painted the mural of saxophonist Maceo Parker with assistant Jennilee Fraser.
The Downtown Kamloops business group will oversee the organization and execution of the works. It’s not clear yet when the new mural plans will be released, but Andrykew expects to have them done within 16 weeks of the mid-July start date.
Credit: FACEBOOK - Zachary Abney -Painter
Zachary Abney's mural of Maceo Parker behind Zack's Coffee downtown was completed last September.
— This story was corrected at 10:55 a.m. Wednesday, July 3, 2019, to say Downtown Kamloops will oversee the murals. It was corrected again at 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, 2019, to clarify the artist assistants were selected by Downtown Kamloops.
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