Painter making a name for himself
I n recent years, public art has been gaining popularity, and murals have been popping up throughout the capital region from Ogden Point to Sooke and everywhere in between.
I’ve always enjoyed murals and I had never thought about the people who create them or the process to develop them, until I needed to purchase one.
About three years ago, I was called into a meeting with a colleague and we were told to get a mural on a new apartment building in Sooke, called Hope Centre. Neither of us had ever purchased art on that scale before.
The funding for the building was intended to provide opportunities for young adults, primarily Indigenous. We decided we wanted our mural also to provide opportunities, this time to young Indigenous artists.
At the time, most of the murals in town were designed by established artists such as Butch Dick of Songhees Nation and Darlene Gait of Esquimalt Nation. They would work with and mentor young up-and-coming artists, who would devote months to paint them.
For Hope Centre, we decided we wanted to find these young artists and give them the opportunity to design their first mural. One of them was Jesse Campbell, a Métis artist from Victoria.
“When I was asked to design the mural at Hope Centre, I was really excited, but I did have anxiety over creating it. Being responsible for the design adds another level of responsibility,” said Campbell. “When I am working in production I just want to make sure I do the design justice.”
The Hope Centre mural was titled Coming Home, and the concept, design and title were a collaborative effort among four young artists.
“It was housing for young First Nations people, and we thought about the transition out of their parents’ home and how they were embarking on their own journey. Getting housing is the first and often the most difficult step to independence,” said 24-yearold Campbell.
Before the mural was painted, we took the design to T’Sou-Ke, Beecher Bay and Pacheedaht First Nations to have it approved by their leadership, as the building was within their traditional territory. Once approved, the painted panels were installed where people travelling along West Coast Road could see them.
For me, my task of getting a mural on the wall was complete. It wasn’t until later that I started hearing stories of Campbell painting mural after mural in town. He was a mural painter before, but now he was being hired to design and paint the murals all on his own.
Our goal of providing opportunity to the artists was successful.
“There is just something I like about putting my own work on a wall,” Campbell said. “I really enjoy the process and all the physical tasks involved. It’s way different from working on a canvas. When I am painting a mural, I need to step back and move around the elements.”
Campbell is often a man of few words, but with a paintbrush, he can tell intricate stories.
Recently, Campbell stepped into the role of a teacher and worked with a group of middle-school students, teaching them about art and offering first-hand experience painting murals.
“Often when people think about First Nations art, they think of totem poles. I wanted to expose the students to Cree, Haida and Coast Salish art — the importance behind this was to let them know that First Nations art isn’t a blanket statement,” said Campbell.
Working with the students, he also passed on his poetic approach to art.
“The mural was about the women in our lives. It was a grandmother with a quilt, and in the quilt are pieces of all our history. The students included images of where their families are from. Our history creates how we are as people.”
Campbell’s art can be seen along the breakwater, on apartment buildings, on churches and in tunnels.
Campbell’s murals are stunning art pieces, intricate stories and a little political.
“Victoria is the last colonial outpost. We [Indigenous people] are here and at one point this art was outlawed. The art is a defiant act, but also an act of reconciliation. It’s organizations who are paying for this and people are funding this because they believe in it.” Charla Huber works in communications and Indigenous relations for M’akola Group of Societies.