Earlier this year, Campus and Community Planning launched Beautify My Bike Cage, a mural contest designed to animate an underutilized space and celebrate cycling culture on campus. There are several potential locations for this contest series, with the first site being the Bike cage off of Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory (AERL Building).
The theme for the first mural was "Cycling and Climate Change". The winner was picked from a number of sketches that were on display for the UBC Community during the Sustainability Ripple Effect campaign last spring.
The winning sketch belonged to Sofia Shamsunahar, a 2nd year student in the Faculty of Arts, residence advisor at Student Housing and Hospitality Services and last but not least an artist.
With Bike to Work Week upon us and with the paint on the mural having just dried, we decided to sit down with Sofia to discuss her experience bringing her vision to life and her hopes for how the mural will contribute to inspiring more sustainable forms of transportation on campus.
What was your inspiration you for this project’s piece?
"I wanted to draw the mountains, because it is one of the views that UBC students are the most in awe of. I am interested in map work, as I used to read maps when I went hiking, so I added contour lines of the mountains, including the actual height of them in meters, and the grid lines. I drew a Dutch bike and a pathway for it that wraps around the mountains. The pathway is filled with happy rainbow colours, to symbolize the positive impacts that bikes have on the environment around them.
I decided to draw a Dutch bike, because I know that the Netherlands is one of countries that is most threatened by climate change, due to how close it is to sea level. The Dutch government is determined to advocate policies to reduce climate change because of this. The Dutch lifestyle promotes biking culture as well. I chose to draw a Dutch bike to remind people the threats of climate change and the ability to incorporate biking into everyday life [as the Dutch do]."
What impact do you think your mural will have in the community?
“Biking is the perfect activity: you work out, but you don’t really feel it. It is free, sustainable and fun. Hopefully this new bike cage mural will expand and strengthen the biking community, and bring colour to the white walls [of the many bike cages] around campus!
What did you enjoy most when painting the mural?
Painting the mural with my closest friends was a lot of fun. That is what I love about art – it brings people together. It is not only the outcome itself, but the creative process is equally important and liberating”
How did you become interested in art and murals?
“I would say my artistic journey started in kindergarten. It peaked when my drawing was selected as my class Christmas card design. Ever since, drawing has been part of my identity – it’s what I am known for. Right now, I use what I like to call self-doodles as a creative outlet to articulate my random thoughts and feelings. When I lived in Norway, I felt first-hand the effects that Street art has on individuals. Murals move you. They make you think. Very much like in the Renaissance period, it was art that ignited deep thought and social reflection.”
The bike mural can now be viewed at the AERL bike cage. Beautify my Bike Cage contest will run again in Spring 2017. Subsequent years and themes will include health, community and safety.