Students excited to be part of mural project
Students from Sensisyusten School were excited to finally see their art work as a mural project years in the making was unveiled Monday afternoon on the Westside.
“Five years ago we broke ground on this site and we were grateful to Westbank First Nation to welcome us here to have the opportunity to open our business,” said Barry Beecroft, owner of Barry Beecroft Fuel Distributors. “From the beginning we tried to think of a way that we could show our appreciation and thanks.”
At the time they considered a mural, but didn’t know where to start and put the idea on hold.
Three years ago, Sue Gaudet, who looks after community engagement with Barry Beecroft Fuel Distributors, resurrected the idea.
“This is First Nation land and they’re allowing us to do our business here, “said Gaudet. “We just wanted to thank them. As a company, community support is the cornerstone of who we are, because we’re smaller.”
This time, she approached Wes Malo, principal at the Sensisyusten School about a mural project.
“He didn’t hesitate,” said Gaudet.
“We were pretty excited,” said Malo.
Malo asked local Syilx artist Coralee Miller to design and paint the outline of the mural.
Miller also worked with the students from five years old to Grade 5 as they filled in the outlines with paint.
Along with familiar plants like the arrowleaf balsam root and saskatoon berries, Miller chose to depict the four food chiefs and the starting captikw, or creation stories, in her design.
Along with creating art, the mural provided an opportunity for the Sensisyusten School’s language and culture team to teach the students about the captikw.
Malo said basically all the Sensisyusten students took part in doing something with the mural at some point in time.
Keyara Coble was one of the students who worked on the mural.
She enjoyed painting and was excited to see it unveiled. Coble is looking forward to passing by the mural on her way around the community.
“I know that I worked in it all of last year,” she said. COVID-19 kept pushing the project back; however, now that the mural has been unveiled, Gaudet said they love the artwork so much they are considering more along the fencing.
The vibrant mural is on a sea can that holds the fire suppression materials required at the fuel facility.