The Die Active Art Collective is painting the town.
In its fifth season, the Definitely Superior Art Gallery initiative was wrapping up a graffiti project Friday afternoon on the back walls of businesses on Cooke Street in the city's north core.
Definitely Superior's youth outreach administrator Lora Northway said the art collective isn't just about beautifying a space, but also about fostering young talent.
"It's kind of amazing to see the outcome of the collective doing exactly what it intended," she said. "We take people who have an interest, minimal skills and we help them find their way."
"They're already really talented artists; they just need to learn the materials better."
Die Active has painted more than 20 murals in the last five years in Thunder Bay.
Northway said they pick a wall that's often a target for vandalism and then plan a mural for the space.
They take the young artists through workshops and have more experienced artists take on mentor roles, sometimes bringing in artists from out of town.
"We like to transform a space and really brighten it up," said Northway, noting the Cooke Street alley was a perfect place for the project.
The artists had covered the backs of Eekos the Modern Home and The Foundry and Northway said she'd like to expand the project down the entire alley and have it become an attraction for graffiti artists.
Boy Roland first tried graffiti art with Die Active about four years ago and has since taken his talents to the House of Paint event in Ottawa.
He also took the lead in the murals done at local Mac's Convenience Stores.
Roland feels large graffiti projects like this one add to the cultural diversity of the city and especially the expanding downtown north core.
"It's so nice because you go to bigger cities - you're in Vancouver or Toronto and you see big graffiti walls all the time and whenever I walk past them, it makes me so happy," he said.
"It makes me feel like there's a lot more life and culture and things happening in the city."
