The Red Bridge may be gone forever after being intentionally destroyed almost two years ago, but a new mural on Fourth Avenue may catch the eye of longtime Kamloops residents with a sentimental tribute to honour the lost historic structure.
The City of Kamloops approved the Kelson Group’s request to commission a mural on the southern side of the historic Falloway-Ellis building located at 220 Fourth Ave. on May 5, adding to the city’s growing collection of back alley artwork.
Kamloops artist Vaughn Warren’s proposal to capture the Red Bridge at dusk serves as both a personal reflection and a tribute to the lost landmark that many residents remember fondly. He was inspired by memories of his youth where ravens soared around the Red Bridge while he swam in the river with friends.
“I would shudder to think of a community without public art,” Warren said after completing the airbrushed project with his team. “I think we do have the resources in our community to do public art, and I think, the more public art we do, the more opportunities we create.”
His mentor, Paul Archer, is an internationally-recognized muralist known for extensive imagery that features ravens and images that make communities feel good.
“Each one is personal,” Archer said about the mural in downtown Kamloops. “If my signature is on it, it has to be perfect.”
The duo shared that it was memorable to see many residents and visitors in the area stopping by while they painted to talk about the project.
After the heritage building mural was approved by council, the Kelson Group funded the project, which brought together four generations of artists to collaborate over 220 hours between May 18 and 31.
Red Bridge mural stewards young artists
Warren, who mentors young artists on any large scale commission project that he’s awarded, brought in two budding artists from Old Federal Studios to assist with the painting.
“It was really exciting to learn a lot of useful tools from (Archer) and (Warren),” said Rowan Hunt, mural assistant. “This experience gave me the opportunity to set up the work, and be working alongside each artist for quite a while, which came with lots of great advice… and little guidelines that opened my mind up a bit to see how that gets put together.”
When Thompson Rivers University made the decision to shutter the visual arts programs in the community, many students were displaced and left to fend for themselves for opportunities to learn.
As a local painter and sculptor, Warren was distraught about the closure of the program and took it upon himself to mentor emerging artists in the area.
The unique Old Federal Studio arts collective has created a space in the historic Federal Building that brings emerging artists together with veteran artisans to deepen their practice and continue learning — a path that strikes a personal chord for him.
“In 1989, at 19-years-old, I moved to Vancouver from Kamloops with only a backpack, $100 and the determination to become a successful artist,” Warren said of his humble beginnings.
That’s when he met internationally recognized muralist Paul Archer, who began mentoring Warren for the first time.
“He was just a kid when I met him,” Archer said with a deep laugh from his belly. “He was basically my water boy, lowering buckets of warm water down five stories for me to clean my paint brushes.”
Over time, the duo developed a collaborative partnership, learning and growing as artists together.
That’s why when Warren pitched Kelson Group on the mural, he immediately reached out to Archer to gauge his interest in assisting with the project.
“This was always my dream,” added Warren with a smile, “but it’s kind of surreal to see it actually working out.”
With a strong desire to continue to transfer knowledge on delivering large scale public art projects, Warren invited Federal Art Studio artists Rowan Hunt, 30, and Jayde Richter, 21, to participate in painting the mural this spring.
“I just finished my diploma in visual arts, so this is actually really up my alley, mind my pun,” said Richter.
Having completed the Diploma of Visual Arts at TRU this semester, she has a summer job lined up at the Kamloops Art Gallery to teach art to children who attend the summer art program starting soon.
“This is my first time being an assistant for a large-scale mural project,” Richter said with excitement. “It was a great learning experience, both on the approach and the execution. Working alongside artists like (Warren) and (Archer) was great.”
“I’ve been helping (Warren) for two-or-three years now,” Hunt said. “I’ve known him for a long time and helped him develop Old Federal Studio. Then he told me a lot about Archer because he used to help Archer for many years, and he gave me the opportunity to work alongside him. I was really excited to get on with it because I’d been looking forward to Archer’s visit. I’ve heard about him for a long time.”
For Hunt, the project became less about individual output and more about learning through proximity to established artists like Warren.
“It was refreshing to see other artists helping each other out,” said Hunt. “It’s a generational thing… In fact, through working with Warren, it’s encouraged me to push further with making art,” Hunt said.
“He’s given me a lot of really good insight on just starting the journey of becoming an artist.”
He recalls drawing a lot in high school and into his mid-20s, then segued into making custom bags and sewing unique projects in recent years.
While Hunt was never formally trained as an artist at the university, he prioritizes working on creative projects outside of his other responsibilities in the community.
“I’ve been in Kamloops for at least 20 years now and always through my time here, (the Red Bridge) has always been a really iconic part of Kamloops,” he said. “Even during the summer, I’d have a hammock under the Red Bridge.”
“It was unfortunate to see it burned down but it’s also good that we can do things like this to keep the memory alive,” he added. “It’s good to preserve the history of Kamloops because there’s a lot of history in Kamloops.”
He feels the project will give the community a sense of nostalgia and the bright colours used in the sunset will help revitalize the downtown community with remnants of summer.
To learn more about the city’s growing support for murals, please visit The Wren’s story about public art.
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