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community art by Leah Avery Making History T he c l a s s r o o m had b e e n hustling and bustling, getting t h e murals ready f o r the big d a y -- F e b r u a r y 2 6 , 2OO0.The day that o u r artistic e n d e a v o u r s w e r e unveiled as pieces o f h i s t o r y at t h e " W a l l a c e Shipyards," n o w k n o w n as t h e " V e r s a t i l e Shipyards," l o c a t e d at L o n s d a l e Q u a y . It has b e e n a g r a n d e x p e r i e n c e f o r us s t u d e n t s t o w o r k o n such an e x t e n s i v e project. It has e n l i g h t e n e d us a b o u t h o w beautiful w o r k s o f a r t a r e c r e a t e d a n d u s e d in t h e m o d e r n world. John Stuart, c u r a t o r of the N o r t h V a n c o u v e r M u s e u m , and Judy Prendergast, o n e of N o r t h V a n c o u v e r ' s c o m m u n i t y artists, w e r e t w o o f t h e key p e o p l e behind this m u r a l project. S t u a r t c a m e t o us w i t h a v i s i o n , and w e w e r e t h e r e t o m a k e it happen. H e p r e s e n t e d a slide s h o w o n the history of the dry d o c k s and e x p l a i n e d w h a t was happening in each p i c t u r e . T h i s was a great help t o us. Explaining w h a t w e n t o n all t h o s e years ago h e l p e d us realize that this p r o j e c t will e d u c a t e many o t h e r s w h o see it as they pass by. P r e n d e r g a s t c r e a t e d a series o f m u r a l s t o be placed o n t h e d o o r s o f the o l d W a l l a c e Shipyards and hand-painted each o f t h o s e scenes o n h e r o w n . A l l the pictures for the murals w e r e carefully s e l e c t e d a n d p u l l e d t o g e t h e r . T h e layout w a s put in f r o n t o f L i n d a Feil, o f the N o r t h V a n c o u v e r C o m m u n i t y A r t s C o u n c i l , a n d the idea w a s agreed u p o n . T h e N o r t h Shore Youth Ambassadors helped with the preparations of the boards by cutting t h e m t o s i z e , putting o n t h e coating, and delivering t h e m t o our school. In p r e p a r a t i o n f o r o u r p r o j e c t , w e watched videos on Diego Rivera and E d w a r d H o p p e r . It w a s v e r y i m p o r tant f o r us t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e h u m a n body, especially the face, because s o m e of o u r murals involve p e o p l e . Seeing these e x a m p l e s f r o m f a m o u s artists gave us a clear idea of w h a t w o r k s . S o m e of the students d r e w f r e e h a n d w h i l e o t h e r s u s e d the o v e r h e a d p r o j e c t o r s t o help layout t h e i r d r a w i n g s . S k e t c h i n g , filling in the shado w s , finalizing t h e s k e t c h , fine lining a n d t h e n adding heritage c o l o u r s w e r e t h e n e x t steps. Black a n d w h i t e w e r e also u s e d t o c r e a t e a s t r o n g c o n t r a s t w i t h t h e c o l o u r s in t h e m u r a l s . A splash h e r e , a dabble t h e r e , m i x i n g a n d b l e n d i n g all a r o u n d . It all c a m e t o g e t h e r in a s y m p h o n y of c o l o u r and life. T h e c o m p l e t e d murals grab your a t t e n t i o n a n d d r a w y o u into t h e m a r velous illustrated w o r l d o f o u r shipyard history. T h e images d e p i c t o u r past: t h e first w o r k s in t h e shipy a r d , t h e arrival o f w o m e n in t h e w o r k f o r c e d u r i n g w a r t i m e , putting t h e ships t o g e t h e r , a n d ships sitting in the d r y d o c k s , being l a u n c h e d , and floating a b o u t in t h e harbor. O t h e r images include t h e W a l l a c e B a n d , m e n drafting and laying o u t ideas f o r ships, Leah Avery participated in the Murals project and is an Art I2 student at Sutherland Secondary School. t h r e e w o m e n c e l e b r a t i n g a launch (including M r s . W a l l a c e ) , t w o girls sitting o n a b e n c h taking a r i d e o n a ferry, a n d S m o k e y -- a W o r l d W a r II hero. C o m p l i m e n t s of Sutherland S e c o n d a r y S c h o o l ' s M s . Foster, h e r A r t 11/12 class, s e l e c t e d s t u d e n t s f r o m t h e G r a p h i c s 12 class, and c o m m u n i t y artist Judy P r e n d e r g a s t , w e n o w have a beautiful array of murals t h a t let us k n o w w h a t h a p p e n e d in o u r p a s t -- a n d puts t h e p r e s e n t a n d f u t u r e w i t h i n o u r grasp. Sutherland Art School Students: Hur Song and Kyung-Mi Michael Photo by Susan Rouse