Haslam Water Plant Mural Project

Ted Cronie is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hey I'm Catnip! Im a mural artist from qathet (Powell River) and I'm currently painting a gigantic 3 sided mural on the Haslam water plant! Its a big cement structure that took the place of a forest I used to hang out in as a child.

Using my juvenile skills as a proposal writer, I envisioned a project being passed by the city, wherein I gained access to paint the monolith without hindrance. This proposal passed unanimously through the Committtee of the Whole and they complied with a modest budget for paint as per my request, 500 dollars. Surprisingly to me, I used this budget in a mere 7 receipts at canadian tire.. Paint in this town is expensive! Thankfully I made an order for artist spraypaint, which is much cheaper and more beautiful range of colour... So I am well on my way.

As of writing this, I have spent 10 days there on the walls, averaging 5 hours a day, although that is being very modest in estimate... 50 hours. And I am surely happy to do it for free! Last year I spent 113 hours on the water treatment plant at the beach, and it was a beautiful interactive experince where I was allowed to contribute to the local narrative through painting, again through similair proposal processes. This project is 5x larger per square footage (another modest estimate), which in comparison im making great time haha.

This may sound cheesy, but I just love the town I am a part of. I love the people in it, and the way it interacts with humanity across the earth. Sort of seems like a secret cove... but not too secret. Just on the edge of humanity and wild nature. And you know, I want to see it succeed, so I always wondered how I can contribute to that. Murals seemed to be what my bodily response to that idea was, and how it manifested itself as these types of projects... as if an offering.

I also know this is just the beginning, and how I can lay the framework for acceptable public art in the community, hopefully it opens up avenues for other artists who come after me, better artists, with even larger messages to extend to the earth, and allows them to succeed even easier than I. Cause sometimes I'm hungry. As many people are.

I'm so happy to be able to share this project with the world, an affirmation in paint about our relationship with water, and all of the local organisms that make up our lovely biome. We are but a droplet in the cosmos, but in each droplet, there is the entire cosmos.

Thank you for reading, even being an observer is enough to contribute to the story being written about how we all move forward, together.

These images are super WIP, but check out my instagram or facebook page for up to date photos!