At the corner of 4th and Maple in the heart of Kitsilano, a local artist has been hard at work on a street mural that presages the opening of the first Patagonia store in Vancouver. Luke Ramsey, a 35-year-old artist from Powell River, has just completed the latest addition to public art in the city – a colorful reimagining of the circulatory system and its parallels to rivers and the branches of trees, showing how we’re all connected.
Ramsey was commissioned to create the 10 x 50 ft mural by Patagonia on a barricade outside of the store while it’s under construction. The 3,500 square foot outdoor retail store is set to open in December when Ramsey will put another piece of art – a giant painting of an Orca - on the inside of the store.
In a city where real estate developers are often mandated to commission public art, this is a bold move by a retailer to offer something in a move of pure goodwill to the neighbourhood that will soon be home to its second stand-alone store in Canada. With the recent murals of giant faces put up on silos at the Granville Island cement factory, the city is becoming a hotbed of public art – both mandated and otherwise. In the new world economy, Patagonia is showcasing a new model for becoming a benefactor to support the arts and pushing the envelope for other businesses that want to make a community contribution.
Patagonia has long been known as a supporter of environmental causes, with its 1% for the planet program regularly donating funds to non-profits. In B.C., Patagonia has provided funding for many years to a long list of organizations including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Ecotrust Canada, Fraser Riverkeeper, Georgia Strait Alliance, Coastal First Nations, Living Oceans Society, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and many more.
But commissioning public art is new for Patagonia; it's the company’s second foray after commissioning a similar mural in New York. “We don’t open stores very often – there are only 29 in North America,” says Patagonia director of retail marketing, Joy Lewis. “But public art offers the perfect marriage between environmentalist and creativity and it can reach people our environmental campaigns won’t.”
The company approached Ramsey because of his track record as an award-winning artist with a reverence for nature. The respect was mutual: “I like their brand and how they support nature and the arts, so it’s a nice exchange because I believe in what they’re doing,” says Ramsey.
In addition to the mural and interior art, Patagonia will be unveiling a line of T-shirts in the new year created by 3 local artists including Ramsey, with proceeds going to local environmental initiatives.
