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Beautiful Artwork: Victoria, BC Uses City Property as Paint Canvases

Updated on May 26, 2012

City Property as the Canvas

Painters traditionally use an easel and paint brush. As I walk the city where I live, I see many new canvas surfaces popping up around me. The city is Victoria, BC. I walk the streets and trails daily that make up one of the most beautiful locations on the west coast of Canada.

I notice that city property is becoming a canvas for artists. I am not referring to graffiti of symbols and tags, although I do see that as well on rocks, tunnels and other walls. Instead, there are painted landscapes that are approved by the city as projects to help beautify the location further. Here are a few examples.

Hydro Boxes as Paint Canvases

Hydro boxes are one example of a painting project approved by municipalities such as Victoria, BC. Depending where you live, hydro boxes are also called electrical transformers, junction boxes or utility boxes. They are by default gray or green in colour.

Several of these boxes are on busy street corners in Victoria and the neighbouring municipality of Saanich. Here are some of the hydro boxes in Saanich.

Hydro Boxes In BC

The boxes are painted with BC landscapes.
The boxes are painted with BC landscapes. | Source
The beautiful forests of BC and Pacific Ocean are depicted here.
The beautiful forests of BC and Pacific Ocean are depicted here. | Source

Public Wall Murals

Public wall murals are being painted across North America. Victoria, BC is not an exception to this trend. In downtown Victoria, there is a 3D Vintage Car Mural on the back parking lot of a vintage auto broker's office. See the image here.

Along the local Galloping Goose Trail, a beautiful mural is featured on the underside of a tunnel. The work is titled "Bridging" and was painted by Frank Lewis. The paint was donated by General Paint and the art was presented to the City of Victoria.

I was unable to fit the entire mural within one photo; I show the two halves below. I love the bold colours and the strong looks of the man and woman. They reach out to each other at the top of the underside of the tunnel.

The Two Sides of the Mural

The left side of the mural "Bridging" by Frank Lewis, Victoria, BC.
The left side of the mural "Bridging" by Frank Lewis, Victoria, BC. | Source
The right side of the mural "Bridging" by Frank Lewis, Victoria, BC.
The right side of the mural "Bridging" by Frank Lewis, Victoria, BC.

The City Canvases

The canvases used by artists are increasing in variety. When cities embrace the addition of beautiful artwork onto city property, they may see the decline of graffiti of obscene words. Recently, the Frank Lewis mural had graffiti of symbols painted onto its right-hand side. I was pleased to see the City of Victoria had the markings removed quickly to restore the artwork to its original form.


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