What do you get when you take almost 200 artists, one big dream and the organizational skills to successfully navigate through a logistical nightmare?
The answer is Kunamokst, the name of the latest mural project by Lewis Lavoie and Phil Alain of Mural Mosaic. The work consists of 231 individual square panels, but once they are assembled in a specific order they form a larger image that as yet remains a secret. It will be unveiled during a special ceremony on Saturday to coincide with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.
Lavoie said creating the project for the Olympics was one of the first things he and Alain discussed when they first started their artistic enterprise five or six years ago. Although this work was actually commissioned by Galiano Island, they worked out a deal where it could be shown for the first time while Vancouver was hosting the 2010 Winter Games before it moved on to its home.
While this fulfils their dream, Alain said it fits well with the amateur sporting event's status as an international gathering place and centre of equality.
“We managed to line up over 180 artists from along the West Coast, meaning all the way from Canada down into the U.S. and even a touch of Mexico.”
Mural Mosaic found out only a few weeks ago that they would be allowed to have this unique showcase on Saturday.
It was both thrilling and relieving news, Alain said. Before he and Lavoie left to make the driving trip to transport themselves and the safely guarded panels to British Columbia, he would only reveal hints about the finished product.
“It's very much themed for a West Coast mural,” he said, although you can get a pretty good idea of it already from muralmosaic.com. “The most exciting thing for this is that we have probably got the highest calibre of artists we've ever had in a mural as far as skill level goes, and notoriety.”
Some of the guest artists include Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Bateman, as well as local painters Maria Buehl, Barbara Would Schaefer and Victoria Armstrong.
