VIDEO: The art of business improvement in Rutland

There's a big splash of colour going on what used to be a featureless wall in Uptown Rutland today. It's the first of several locations that will turn walls into canvasses for a variety of artists. The aim is to add vibrancy to the area, and the first work on Valleyview Road is a piece by artist Jeremy Shantz that is as bright as it is colourful.

The program will use URBA funds that were allocated for beautification with help from the City of Kelowna's Community Arts Program. Applications are in the works for various grants including the Central Okanagan Foundation, Valley First Credit Union and the Canada Arts Council. Project Manager David Doody called it a "mural festival". "We're looking at trying to do five large scale murals in the uptown business association district," said Doody, "which kind of wraps from where we are here at Valleyview and the whole HWY 33, over to Rutland Road and the new bus loop." The idea is to set it up so it works as a walking tour.

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We are Sooo EXCITED!!! to host @jshantzart to kick start the mural season here in the #Okanagan and our first wall for the #UpTownMuralProject 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 #canadianArt #mural #muralArt #muralArtist #BCMurals #RutlandMurals #UrbanArt #StreetArt #UptownBusinessAssociation

A post shared by Uptown Rutland Mural Project (@fresh.west.official) on May 25, 2019 at 2:37pm PDT

Shantz is all smiles about working on such a large surface."The people are what's keeping it going," said Shantz. "Everyone's positive and they love what's happening in the area." Shantz said people are truly excited about it. "Already after just five days of painting that it's changing the neighbourhood."

For Uptown Rutland Business Association Executive Director Laurel D'Andrea called it a bold statement. "We've done planters, we've done banners, we've done bike racks, we've done all of that, said D'Andrea, "so we wanted to do something a little bit bolder, a little bit brighter and we wanted to do something that would attract business."

There will be similar mural projects on the public washroom in Lions Park on Gray Road and on walls at Christman Plumbing on Rutland Road, Save More Pawn and Thrift, Christ Church on Rutland Road facing Burger Baron and at Valley First Credit Union. Students from Rutland Secondary and Studio 9 will have an opportunity to work with some artists on the Lions Park washroom project. The plan is to have the artwork complete in time for a wrap-up event August 23rd.