For artist Leslie Phelan, a mural is something of modern-day postcard.
Where people once bought and mailed images of idyllic places they’d visited, today, it’s all done on their own phones.
“People are on social media. They’re taking photos everywhere they go. And so it’s really kind of important, if you want to mark your place, that you put things like that out there for people to take photos with,” she said. “It lets them know precisely where they are. And for me, the magic of a mural is in the sense of place that they create.”
Phelan has just completed work on a uniquely Horseshoe Bay mural at the corner of Royal Avenue and Bruce Street.
Phelan, a mural artist of 10 years, said she had been eyeing the wall ever since she moved to the area from Toronto two years ago.
“It was big, and plain and brown. And for such a colourful little hamlet, it just seemed like it was really aching for something,” she said.
Phelan pitched the mural concept to the Horseshoe Bay Business Association, which was already looking for projects to build on the District of West Vancouver’s total redo of Horseshoe Bay Park completed in 2023, and the building’s owner was happy to offer the space.
“The park is now beautiful, and it’s so great to see all the kids and families out using it,” said Megan Sewell, business association president. “And as we looked at the bay and how it was really kind of tired, we were really trying to figure out another way to bring more life back.”
“Life” might very well be the theme of the mural – a tableau of some of the most impressive local fauna that can be seen in the area, including an orca, a humpback whale, a harbour seal, an eagle and others.
Beyond that, Phelan said she put a lot of thought into the exact hues and shades she’d use and how to make them “kiss,” intending to create a certain impact for the viewer.
“I hope that they’re just hit with a bit of colour therapy, that it brings … some vibrancy,” she said. “It’s the first thing you see when you’re coming down the hill and entering the commercial zone and now, it’s a big colourful ‘Hello.’”
The mural is also adorned with its name Ch’axáý, the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim (Squamish Language) term for Horseshoe Bay, which translates to “sizzling sound.” Before settlers arrived, the herring that spawned in Horseshoe Bay were so plentiful, the water could be heard sizzling from the land.
Taste of the Bay
Sewell said they were aiming to have the mural completed in time for the return of Taste of the Bay – the first time the business association event has run since the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone who buys a ticket for the May 29 event can visit any of the 34 participating businesses and sample some of their offerings for free. Those who can collect stamps from more than half of the businesses can be entered into a draw for a gift basket or stand-up paddleboard for the kids.
Tickets are being sold at Trolls, Blenz and the Gleneagles Recreation Centre.
Money raised from the event will go toward new murals and events in the future, in keeping with the association’s tradition of bringing the community and businesses together.
“I just think it’s an exciting time. We’ve got some new businesses that have come into Horseshoe Bay. We have some new ownership of some existing businesses,” she said. “[The community] has got a ferry terminal that has over 500 million people that use it as a transportation hub. And somehow, it’s just got this lively passionate community that is living there, day-in and day-out, supporting one another.”
