New mural being painted along Tranquille corridor

Photo: Brendan Kergin

Zach Abney working on the new art.

Murals in Kamloops are often associated with the downtown core, but they're spreading to the North Shore.

The newest project is currently being painted by Zach Abney, who started this weekend on a project at the corner of Tranquille Road and Aspen Street, on the side of the building housing Hatsuki Sushi.

The mural, designed to be a long if not particularly tall piece of work, stretches along Aspen from Tranquille up to Hilltop Avenue. The larger section will depict parents with a child overlooking Kamloops Lake from the Cooney Bay area.

"We wanted something that showed an area of Kamloops that a lot of people have fond memories of," Abney says. "This is supposed to be out by Tranquille Farms there, down along the beach."

"I'm hoping to capture the essence of one of the sunsets out there and everything should tie in to a topographic map that's going to be down on the far side," he adds.

While not explicitly referencing COVID-19, he says the pandemic did influence the choice of subject matter.

"When I was talking to Jeremy from the North Shore Business Improvement Association and...two of the people who manage the building here, we were talking about the idea of community and families getting and stuff like that," Abney says. "Especially with all th COVID stuff that's been going on."

"So we figured it would be a good idea to do a mural that focused more around community and trying to get outside."

Anyone driving by this week will see a rough version of what the finished piece will look like; Abney works with CP Rail and will be away for a week. He's started on the wall, but only to sketch out the idea. He'll be fleshing it out over the coming weeks and hopes to wrap up before Canada Day.

"It's been really nice working on the North Shore," he says. "People are just as supportive on the North Shore as they are downtown."

He adds that being part of the rejuvenation of the North Shore is interesting.

"It's been cool, i like seeing all the development going on," he says. "It's neat to be part of all the change that's going on down here."

With talks ongoing about more murals elsewhere on the North Shore, Abney says he's heard a bit of jealousy from other Interior cities.

"I know talking to people in Kelowna and Penticton they wish they had a similar thing going on where they were," he says. "So we're pretty lucky to have that."