Bringing art and design to the streets of Nanaimo

Robert Plante stands beside his design wrapping a utility box on Front Street on Feb. 5, 2024. He is one of 21 artists from across British Columbia selected to participate in the City of Nanaimo's Urban Design Roster for the next two years. Photo: Mick Sweetman / CHLY 101.7FM

The City of Nanaimo is welcoming 21 artists and designers from across the province to its Urban Design Roster for a two-year term.

The artists will help beautify the city with murals on city buildings, surface treatment on play areas and splash pads, and wraps of utility boxes and kiosks.

One of those artists is Sandy Pell, who along with her husband Steve are known for transforming blank walls into engaging murals across Canada with their company Pellvetica.

Steve and Sandy Pell have created murals in cities across Canada and are part of the City of Nanaimo’s Urban Design Roster for the next two years. Photo courtesy of Pellvetica.

The first mural Sandy and Steve did was actually done on the wall of their condo.

“We were living in a small condo in Waterloo, Ontario, way back about 15 years ago and we wanted to make our white wall space a little more interesting at the time,” she said. “So we priced out some super funky wallpaper installed on this wall that backfaced our kitchen, the quote for this tiny amount of wallpaper was several hundred dollars, which we were absolutely unwilling to put that investment in.”

Armed with nothing more than a childhood paintbrush and a tube of black paint that cost $2.50 after a coupon, Sandy spent a week painting the wall of her condo after work.

“I ended up painting this pretty crazy mural across the side of the wall that took inspiration from pillows and plants and lots of different shapes throughout the house,” she said. “And that was the first mural, it came out pretty cool.”

A mural of a set of wings in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver that the couple created in 2017 has become a popular destination for people to take photos in front of.

“One of the things that we love about that space is there's a very large Bald Eagles nest, which many people know and love and watch that family come in,” she said. “So that massive pair of wings on the corner of Fourth and Burrard is actually a gigantic set of bald eagle wings, which span over the West Coast sunset.”

Sandy said she loves reading the posts on Instagram tagged with #kittswings and has read some very personal stories that people shared after visiting the mural.

“We didn't really know what it would become when we painted it,” she said. “But even the process of painting in a public space, you get to meet so many people, and they come by and they tell you stories, and they want to hear about your process. We had someone come by and play music for us while we were painting at two in the morning or so. It's such a great way to meet people and build community.”

A mural by Sandy and Steve Pell in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver has become famous on Instagram for people taking their photo in front of it. The Pellvetica duo is part of a roster of 21 artists whose work will grace the streets of Nanaimo over the next two years. Photo: @rosiegabrielle courtesy of Pellvetica.

Another local artist on the roster is Robert Plante, who moved to Nanaimo 15 years ago from the Netherlands and has designed two ocean-themed wraps for utility boxes on Front Street.

“I was always thrilled by the way that the city contributed to city design in general and beautification of the city,” he said. “I'm always fascinated by that.”

Before coming to Vancouver Island, Plante helped brand cities in Europe such as Rotterdam and when Nanaimo started the Urban Design program in 2021 he jumped at the opportunity.

“It's just nice to work for city marketing, when it comes to the creative part of it, is one of nicest things to do because you do it specifically for all the people in the city,” he said.

Plante is currently working on another design for a utility box related to the city’s water supply.

“I hope I will not be the box specialist of Nanaimo,” he said with a laugh. “But there are millions of opportunities to beautify our city.”

As much as he enjoys making public art for the city, Plante said that he would like to see young up and coming artists and designers apply to be part of the program in future years

“My advice for the younger (artists), if you want to show off, city beautification is one of the best ways, because you can show it to everybody,” he said. “It sounds weird, because I'm honored to be selected, but hopefully in two years, there will be really young designers on the list, people in their 20s or early 30s.”

Plante says the investment by the city in public art and design is a sign that the city is growing into being a major city.

“We are a small city, but we're growing,” he said. “That means that with growing comes a responsibility to make our lives nice to live. And one of the things that's needed is the beauty of the city.”

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.