The Making of the Youth Legacy Mural
This year, we partnered with award-winning local artist Katie Green to create a one-of-a-kind mural inspired by young artists across YYC! Imagined by children's monster and creature submissions around Calgary, Katie selected various artworks and re-created them using her signature watercolour style. What initially began as a collection of children’s art has now been thoughtfully placed and paired with flora and fauna design into a beautiful mural that remains on the Wee Wild Ones centre in the community of Currie for years to come! Read on to learn more about artist Katie Green, the making of the mural, and the impact we hope to make within our community and beyond!
Meet Katie Green
Katie resides in Mohkínstsis in Treaty 7 Territory (Calgary, Alberta) and works locally and internationally. She is a visual artist working in various scales and mediums to redefine public space and create transformational community experiences. Her intimate watercolour personas are eery and ethereal, emotionally visceral reflections of a gritty and unapologetic exploration into the complexity of the human experience. Her murals are wildly immersive scenes of animals and human-like characters caught in mid-action at an architectural scale. Whether working in the studio or on the street, Katie’s work focuses on personal intuition, impulse, and expression without judgment.
As an organization that seeks to create purposeful spaces and inclusive environments, we knew our partnership with Katie felt aligned and that our mural collaboration would complement our values and her vision.
To learn more about Katie and to explore her art, visit her website here!
The Making of the Mural
At WilderFutures, we value the importance of education and creativity, how they intersect, and the positive impact this practice has on our youngest generation. When we began to imagine the process of our Youth Legacy Mural, we knew involving our youth in the mural-making process was the first step on this journey. We called out to young artists around YYC to dream-up monsters for a chance to have their imagined artwork recreated by Katie! In their monster creature submissions, the children behind the art included a story about their monsters. The stories of each monster began as a way for our youth to create, reflect and make meaning behind their creatures while also using creative practice as a way for them to understand their own feelings and emotions. Thus, the making of the monsters can be seen as an expansion of their creativity and an extension of themselves. Scroll on to meet on of the monsters behind the mural!
Once Katie selected the chosen monsters, she recreated all submissions in her signature watercolour style. From there, Katie painted a beautiful mural piece filled with creatures intermingling with flora and fauna, resulting in a unique, bright, and colourful design. Katie then began printing the mural on works of paper that were scanned and assembled into a digital file. The mural was then printed onto a unique material that allowed Katie to apply her wheat-paste technique, which translates to a watery, otherworldly delicacy of her painting at an architectural scale. This process creates rich textures and colours throughout the mural, forming an immersive sense of wonder for those who view her art.
The Youth Legacy Mural Unveiling
On Saturday, October 29th, 2022, our community came together to collectively unveil the Youth Legacy Mural in the Currie! Surrounded by the original monster artists and onlookers, Katie shared her creative process and the stories behind each creature within the mural. Katie invited all attendees to reflect on our inner landscapes throughout the unveiling.
Katie shared, “The many characters, or “selves'' will ask with attuned curiosity: What self are we bringing forward? What self are we healing? What self are we hiding or sharing with others? The characters will gaze expectantly, curiously, but not without trepidation at an audience who gazes back at them. In this paused moment of watchful looking, we hope that the viewer will see themselves reflected in the mural and experience an instant of emotional honesty and vulnerability but also a sense of togetherness.”
We believe that this project has the potential to impact the way we process our emotions and create a space that openly promotes mental health and well-being, leaving a legacy of our youth behind.
Thank You to our Partners
We are pleased to acknowledge Wee Wild Ones, Sagium and Kinsted for supporting this mural! Thank you to Sagium Corp and Kinsted Wealth for their generous partnership in the Monster March campaign! As companies in the Financial Services Industry in the Calgary community and beyond, their impact spans across many! Sagium and Kinsted love to support local charities in the industries of mental health, athletics, kids and education within the Calgary community and continue to give back beyond monetary but through building intentional connections with community members. We knew that their change-making pillars aligned with our values, and are proud to partner with such an incredible organization. Their sponsorship in making the mural possible allows us to raise awareness about the Children's Cottage while connecting with our community on shared human experiences for generations to come! Visit Sagium and Kinsted to learn more!
What’s Next?
Visit the Youth Legacy Mural in the community of Currie! Our team will continue to leave a legacy of our youth behind by displaying a plaque of probing questions for future visitors to view and reflect on while also acknowledging all the artists and partners who collectively created this mural together!
Follow along at @wilderfutures to stay in the loop about similar initiatives we host within our community and beyond!