‘Something universal’

St. James-Assiniboia

Wolseley

Prairie Spirit United Church (207 Thompson Dr.) has received a facelift from an emerging local artist, which aims to represent the building’s place as a community resource and welcoming environment for everyone who walks through its front doors.

The mural — which depicts one faceless, genderless person giving another a loaf of bread, against a backdrop of greys, blues and oranges reminiscent of stained glass and quilt work — was designed and painted by Mae Desmond, with the help and support of Dylan Fries. It’s Desmond’s first project of this nature — having just graduated art school in June of this year — and has been an undertaking that’s taken up the better part of the last two months.

Desmond said that she was connected with the church through a call for artists it had put out on social media, and was grateful to have been the one selected out of the roster of artists who had applied.

“I was really inspired by the beautiful quilts inside,” she said, adding that it was just as inspired by the church’s aforementioned humanitarian work, such as the volunteer-operated food bank put on by members throughout the year.

“There’s something very universal about that (food),” Desmond, who lives in Wolseley, said. “Something we can all understand and appreciate as humans … how we connect with each other and the earth.”

With the earth in mind, Desmond made sure to make the mural very prairie-esque, as well. And to reflect the “cool and welcoming” nature of the congregation, the project features a subtle rainbow, representing the 2SLGBTQ+ community, in the corner on the right side — a signifier that those walking by are safe here whether they’re out or not.

Desmond’s experience is primarily in oil paints, with a heavy focus on figure. Her final year — her honours year — at university was devoted to a project covering the male figure, as she was more comfortable with drawing female bodies at the time. Her work explores ideas such as gender, masculinity and queer themes, often with an air of distort and ambiguity, she explained. For example, skin colours are often blues and greens rather than beiges and browns, and bodies are made out of rock and other abstract materials.

Painting portraits is different than designing a mural, she said, and one of the largest challenges she’s faced with the project at Prairie United was making the designs flat and the colours pop in the right way. Another has been working with the wall, which is 3-D, unlike the typical canvas: “Transitioning from canvas to a 50-foot wall … it adds a whole technical challenge to it.”

The reactions to the project have been positive so far.

“A couple people have driven by and stopped to look,” Desmond said, adding that she had even gone to ask the neighbour living across the street for their opinion, as they’re the one looking at it all day, and was delighted to hear they liked it, too.

“It’s been pretty good … facing the reality that not everyone’s going to like it,” she said. “I feel like it’s been really positive.”

“I think it’s opened up a new direction,” Fries said, adding that although it’s been a learning experience, the pair are excited to do more murals in the future. “Personally, I’d love to do more.”

Desmond currently has work on display at the Graffiti Gallery — which is located in Portage Place Shopping Centre skywalk — until the end of October. You can also find her work on Instagram, at @mae.desmond.art