Urban invasion

Kassy MacFayden and Andrew Vester want to share their passion for art.

But until recently, the two 17-year-old St. Ignatius High School students didn’t have a place to develop their creative skills. Not until they happened upon Die Active, a youth collective of artists housed at Definitely Superior Art Gallery.

There, they joined about 30 other artists and helped transform the wall outside Park Street's Black Pirates Pub into a piece of art.

The project started about a month ago and illustrated a variety of animals, aliens, robots and creatures, while keeping with the theme of harmonizing nature and urbanization.

MacFayden said it surprised her to learn that there was a group of young artists who came together to work on large-scale art pieces. Her contribution features a spirit animal that also incorporates a number of other natural elements.

"Art really is a passion for me," MacFayden said. "I understand making a living out of art is hard and I do want to have something to fall back on but I’m not going to stop pursuing my passion."

MacFayden, who hopes to study art next year at Concordia University in hopes of pursuing a career in children's illustrations or cartoons, said she was glad to have a chance to show her work to those with more art experience and also get some pointers on how to improve.

Vester's contribution to the mural is several large buildings that appear to melt into water. He said his portion illustrates the buildings returning to nature.

Vester admitted he isn’t much of a painter but said he often worked on portrays and fan art for popular video games. With all the creatures and life forms present in video games, he said that art form inspired him to want to go into a career as an illustrator.

"Seeing all the creativity that goes into video games inspired me to think more inline of that genre," Vester said. "I also like to draw nature that kind of inspires me too. Thunder Bay has a lot of city but if you drive 30 minutes out of town there is just bush everywhere."

Lora Northway, outreach administrator with Definitely Superior Art Gallery, said she doesn’t consider the instillation a mural but more like street art and definitely not graffiti.

"The only thing that makes something graffiti and not art is if you have permission or not," Northway said. "People use the word graffiti to describe it, which isn’t appropriate because that has a lot of negative connotations to it. Street art is part of an art movement that exists internationally but isn’t represented at all in Thunder Bay. It is recognized and paid for in other big cities and all it is outdoor wall art."

While the other wall art around the city may seem more traditional, Northway said their style is more alternative and a representation of a younger voice.

The general response for the street art was positive with many residents asking more questions about the project, she said.

"Nobody has once asked us if we had permission or even said that a particular image offended him or her," she said. "I think it’s something that’s really improving the downtown core. There is no other mural like this."

Northway said the project cost was about $2,000 and done through volunteers and added they expected the wall to be completed sometime in September.