A mural by a Visual Arts class inspired by the theme of movement brings stunning colour to the Rose Garden Parkade.
A group of UBC Fine Arts students applied their talents to breathe new life into the concrete walls of the Rose Garden Parkade. The mural, titled Movement, was created as part of a student-led collaboration through the SEEDS Sustainability Program.
A group of twenty Bachelor of Fine Arts students partnered with Art History, Visual Art and Theory professor Richard Prince, UBC Parking Services, and the Arts & Culture District on the project. The mural doubled as the final class project for VISA 401E, an advanced open studio class. The parkade mural brings life and colour to an otherwise utilitarian and sometimes dreary campus space.
The piece challenged the students to interpret the theme "movement"in whatever way they chose. The whimsical designs all offer different interpreations of "movement" and pay homage to the next steps the students will take as they graduate from UBC. For some of the artists, it was an rare opportunity to leave their final and lasting mark on campus.
The VISA 401E class, in front of a segment of their mural in the Rose Garden Parkade.
The mural stretches across the entire north-facing wall of Level Four of the Rose Garden parkade and is comprised of dozens of circles, each filled with a student's unique interpretation of the theme.
Interpretation of Movement
For mural artist Mahsan Jaffari the theme reminded Jaffari of summer days and water. “Everyone has different ideas of movement," Jaffari shared. "Mine is the pool that you would see on a sunny day, and the light you would see reflecting on the pool”.
Mahsan Jaffari's artwork depicts the theme Movement.
The theme was more subtle for Nina Ambramishvili. Abramishvili’s circle depicts mountains to show there is movement behind something that seems static and yet is always growing and changing with the earth. She mentioned that she hopes the mountains will “bring a little bit of nature inside the parkade”.
Nina Ambramishvili and Richard Prince, professor of Art History, Visual Art and Theory.
Abramishvili added, “It’s really interesting to take twenty artists and get them to do one thing. Just the fact that everyone has their own individuality but it all ties in together – even with the colours as well. So you have each person’s personality but it shows as a whole based on the interpretation that we had about movement”.
You can see the mural in person on Level Four of the Rose Garden Parkade located next to the Chan Centre. Learn about other amazing student projects with the SEEDS Sustainability Program.