An explosion of colour greets visitors at the Central Community Recreation Centre — but the vibrant mural that sprouted on the front wall of the Drury Lane facility this fall holds much more than meets the eye.
The piece, created by local artist Poonam Sharma, features animation technology that brings the butterflies and flowers depicted on the surface to life. To access the magic, viewers need to install the ARTIVIVE app on their smartphones, then stand in front of the mural to activate a 40-second video, complete with 3-D effects and music.
Sharma, who studied architecture and learned 20 different folk art techniques while growing up in Jaipur, India, has created more than 25 murals in Toronto and the GTA (including a giant “Burlington” installation on Harvester Road and a painting that brightens up the gym at St. Raphael’s Catholic School). For her, the animation aspect is an exciting new addition to her work.
“I am a community animator,” she says, noting that while she does some privately commissioned pieces, her passion is to create public art and engage people in the process.
That’s certainly what happened during the creation of the mural at Central Arena. “Fifty people came and volunteered to paint with me — kids, youth and adults volunteered,” she says. “I invited people to come out and paint with me, and I welcomed people passing by to stop and paint with me.
“I cannot paint alone.”
To promote engagement even further, those who visit are encouraged to snap photos of themselves with the piece, post them to social media and tag Sharma @Rangriva (her handle is a combination of the Hindi word for colour and the name of her son, Rivaansh) as well at @cityburlington and @cobalt_connects, which facilitated the project.
Sharma says including the community in the project has an additional benefit. “When someone is involved, they take ownership, and that deters vandalism,” she notes. “Everybody is keeping an eye on it for me.”
It took more than 25 days to complete the work on the wall, due to some weather delays as well as the popcorn texture on the painting surface. Sharma first applied a coat of primer to the surface, then added the outline, indicating the placement of the colours — kind of like a giant paint-by-number project. She and the volunteers then set about filling in each segment. After the colour was applied, Sharma went back and used small brushes to fill in any gaps created by the textured surface.
To add the interactive element, Sharma worked closely with Marwgan Shaw, a Toronto animator now based in Australia. Creating an augmented reality (AR) segment was new for Sharma, and she was eager to learn how to apply drafting and scaling skills to make her vision come to life. As each element was added, it had to be tested and tweaked to ensure the animation of each bird, flower and butterfly was just right. With her first AR project under her belt (and possibly the first for Burlington), Sharma looks forward to applying her newfound skills to future pieces.
The artist says the concept behind the Central mural was to create something that stays with people. She tied the theme of the public art piece, diversity and inclusion, to the diversity found in the natural world around us.
“It was inspired by the flowers in Burlington,” she said. “I love the RBG and the flowers that come in spring. It is the best time of year, full of hope and the creation of life. It (the mural) is about how we belong to nature, how the flowers are all different and each one is equally beautiful, and how people all should be equally accepting of each other.”
The artist, who attributes her passion for bright colours to her folk art training, is excited for people to visit the Central Arena mural. “On a harsh winter night, if you need a bit of spring you can come down here and experience it.”
