By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Like a chrysalis the slow transformation from an insular environment, wings spreading tentatively as strength gathers, local artist Adi Di Castro says her winged medallion painting is a metaphor for her personal journey through the pandemic as she unfolds her creative wings once again.
At the same time, it is also a metaphor, not just for all of us as we optimistically look towards a brighter summer than the last two years, but for the unfolding of the vibrant arts scene in Osoyoos. In fact, Wina Poliquin, President and Founder of Wide Arts National Association (WANA) says the local arts community is comparable to the long-established arts scene in Nelson.
“I’ve been here for 18 years and really the core people here right now that are around and are making more artistic things happen in Osoyoos is unbelievable! You’re just starting to see it because it’s been bubbling under the surface for as long as I can remember and that’s why I started doing so much more because we need to pull this up, this is as vibrant as Nelson on a smaller scale,” she says with her trademark irrepressible positivity. “It’s gonna be such a good year! She adds.
This is in part she says because of Osyoos’ unique mix of people many of whom are artists that are drawn to this community for a variety of reasons – retirees, workers drawn to the service sector and agricultural jobs – with many from not only across the country but internationally as well.
Di Castro’s ‘wings’ are now installed on the back wall of the building where Poliquin has her gallery, the first of seven or eight or more wings that will eventually cover the alley wall.
Adi Di Castro (left) and Wina Poliquin (right).
Poliquin says the owner of the building had given Wide Arts permission to create an outdoor gallery on the side and back of the building. “So that happened last year and there were a lot of different ideas that came to mind on what to do, but we basically decided to do it on panels. That way we can remove the panels if we need to for any reason.”
Meanwhile, Di Castro had been thinking about what she wanted to do, eventually settling on the ‘wings’ concept. “It’s been almost a whole year and I feel like I know what I need to do and that’s open my wings again.
Her wings incorporate mandalas, something she has been drawing since age 12. “I used to do a lot of art back home where I’m from in Israel and the main focus was always on mandalas,” she says. First, she did art for watches and clocks and then she started on chess boards and boxes as well as backgammon boxes. Only later did she move to larger murals, she adds.
The idea is to have this art accessible, for people to come and take photos. “It will attract people to go and explore the small alleys for art pieces,” says Poliquin. “So having the wings will attract people to come and take a picture and then grow it up to be not just one panel but to do a whole wall of panels all with the theme of the wings.”
Currently, there are seven or eight artists working on ‘wing panels’, “so they will all be different and what I’m hoping to do is to rotate the main pieces that are lower so that people can take pictures with them and after a year they will want to come back because then there’ll be a different wing panel there to take pictures with.”
She also sees the outdoor gallery becoming a bit of a portfolio of mural work because people often reach out to her looking for mural artists. This way, she says, “I can take them back there once all the panels are there and say look these are the types of style we can have.”
She’s hoping to have all of the panels installed by Sept. 24 in time for the Pride event. It would be nice before summer but they’re definitely will be one panel!” she says adding that Destination Osoyoos is already promoting an Osoyoos Mural Walk on their website.
