“It is so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas.” So goes the famous quote by French artist Paul Cezanne and no doubt rings true for those of us who view any blank space or white wall as a neglected void screaming out for color, detail and life.
Nakusp Elementary School has a colorful history of answering the call of inspiration and taking up the paintbrush, artfully engaging in the battle of eradicating monotony.
Over the years, and under the direction of like-minded virtuosos, students have been encouraged to color the urban landscape, brushing life onto the blank walls of their school and community.
The battle has slowly been tipping in favor of the creative; the north end of the elementary school being conquered by a vibrant mosaic of individually painted tiles depicting smiling faces, outdoor activities and abstract representations of the world of the young creative mind. A similar collection of tiles can be found at the Nakusp Hotsprings.
The latest conquest of blank canvases in Nakusp is a spring themed installation orchestrated by Nakusp’s very own professional artist, Barbara Maye. Maye is an accomplished multi-media designer who has been exhibiting her work since 1993 in galleries as far away as Germany.
A graduate of the University of Calgary, Maye was awarded the Faculty’s Gold Medal for highest academic standing in 2007 and went on to flex her expertise in the world of teaching at Mount Royal University and North Mount Pleasant Arts Centre. Maye eventually relocated to Nakusp, and now travels the lake basin area, bringing her experience and professionalism to a variety of art classes and projects.
Maye was approached by NES teachers Leslie Leitch and Brenda McQuair to help write an ArtStarts grant to secure the funding to be-spackle the white wall on the south west side of the elementary.
ArtStarts is a not for profit organization that promotes and organizes opportunities for professional artists to either integrate into classrooms for artistic projects or provide workshops, exhibits and performances.
The partnership is a dynamic learning experience for the students, but is also a change for teachers and artists to learn from each other. Like mixing colors, mixing pedagogy with professional art can create something wonderful and often unexpected.
The concept for the elementary wall is a “Birds eye view of spring” and Maye was originally going to invite students to paint their own cameos onto the mountainous landscape.
But art is not a static process, and the cameo idea evolved into personalized raindrops drizzling over the landscape.
“It’s like the raindrops are delivering spring” observes Maye. The vernal scene is part of a larger tetraptyc which the school plans to transform all four entrances to the elementary school into a representation of one of the four seasons.
Lurking behind the enthralling cathartic experience of painting on a public space is a lesson to be learned.
Maye used the opportunity of the mural project to teach the students of Nakusp Elementary about the artist’s essential tool, the color wheel. Each student who took up the paintbrush was introduced to the primary colors and had their hand at mixing paint.
“I want to thank the kids at NES for being so charming, courageous and eager to learn” Maye comments, “I also want to thank all of the teachers, parents and volunteers who really made the whole process much smoother. What an experience!”