Downtown Kamloops will soon be home to two new murals, adding to the outdoor art gallery that has transformed the city’s back alleys.
Two new murals are in the works, to be completed October 20th and bringing the total number of murals in downtown Kamloops to 26. The new murals are behind Subway and Mittz Kitchen, while a third was completed this past summer is behind Kelson Place.
The Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, Shane Simpson, was in Kamloops today touring the back alley art, which has been made possible in part from government funding.
The Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association has received more than $19,000 in funding for the Back Alley Art Gallery Job Creation Partnership project, in which two participants are currently learning about large-mural creation and gaining work experience in urban design as they complete the last two murals of 2017.
Behind Subway they are completing a design dubbed “The Mystic,” created to promote peace and love. Behind Mittx Kitchen is “The Jaguar,” depicting an Olmnec/Inca temple. A third completed earlier this summer behind Kelson Place depicts the former Leland Hotel that stood at the same address in 1905.
Tour of local alley art murals from Downtown Kamloops w/ #BC Minister Shane Simpson pic.twitter.com/D5Ds7drlU8
— Dylana (@DylanaMilobar) October 11, 2017
Downtown murals are located in the alleys behind Lansdowne, Victoria and Seymour Street. The mural program started in 2010 as a way to deter graffiti.
KCBIA general manager Gay Pooler says the city has seen an increase in pedestrian traffic in the back alleys thanks to the murals that have become something of a tourist attraction.
Ministry funding is provided through the Job Creation Partnership stream of the Community and Employer Partnership program, which funds projects that “increase employability levels” and “provides more support to people who are struggling to gain a foothold in the job market.”
