MHC student Kira Vlietstra works on her mural at the college's campus in the Hat.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
A student at Medicine Hat College is putting the final touches on a mural she created on campus.
Third-year art design student Kira Vliestra created the 46-foot by 9.5-foot mural over the course of a month and did so as part of her work term placement.
“A group of us were chosen to make a proposal to make a mural,” she said. “We were given the them of Growing a Vibrant Future With Learners in our Region. I took that theme and broke it down.
“I’d only lived in Medicine Hat for two years but I picked up on the community – there’s a really interesting demographic here at the school. I put those demographics into characters and wanted to show them working together.”
Vliestra’s art is aimed at being inclusive and celebrating community connection.
“We don’t know what the future is going to look like and that’s shown in this,” she said.
While working on her piece Vliestra wanted to include Indigenous communities in the process.
“I really wanted Indigenous representation. I wanted it to be appropriate and to fit,” said Vliestra. “I held a Zoom meeting with a few of the Indigenous staff at the school. The meeting was awesome and I got so many ideas from it.
“A lot of people represent Indigenous culture with lost artifacts and things that aren’t that present anymore. I was told to make sure it was modern and up-to-date.”
With a new perspective in mind, Vliestra decided to incorporate a smudging ceremony into the mural.
“All of the characters in the mural are in a smudging ceremony,” she said. “I also have an indigenous man on the mural. He has a buffalo with him and other natural resources.”
The piece is the biggest Vliestra has ever worked on, and she is thankful for the opportunity to create on campus.
“I’ve never done a mural before, but this actually went really well,” she said. “This was a fun opportunity.”
