Instagram sponsors Bank Street mural
By Jamie Pashagumskum
Instagram has sponsored the creation of a colourful mural on the side of a Bank Street building in Centretown as part of the photo-sharing platform’s global program to purge online harassment and cruel comments.
The painting — which features a rainbow and balloons bearing the messages “You Are Amazing” and “Tu Es Magnifique” — is part of Instagram’s #KindComments campaign, and Ottawa is just one of the cities world-wide chosen to participate in the movement.
The project was started by Instagram’s co-founder and CEO, Kevin Systrom, in reaction to the company’s Commitment to Safety and Kindness initiative.
In an Instagram blog dated Sept. 12, 2016, Systrom detailed his plans “to ensure Instagram remains a positive place to express yourself,” and he stressed keeping it a safe creative environment for its 800 million users.
The mural is located on a south-facing wall on a building just south of Slater Street. The property is owned by Morguard — one of Ottawa’s largest commercial landlords — and the wall is already distinguished by arched green frames and the “G.A. Snider Photographer” ghost sign preserved as heritage relics.
“We love it!” Bernie Myers of Morguard said of the mural. “It’s bright, it’s cheerful, it livens up the area and it has a great message for the community.”
Myers said the company was delighted to be part of the project because of its positive, affirming message — and because, he added, it’s a nice use of a prominent downtown space.
Carolyn Jane Borer of the Ottawa-based small business Roll Up Her Sleeves Painting, created the mural along with her two colleagues.
The people at Instagram discovered Roll Up Her Sleeves Painting through the group’s Instagram page, said Borer. Instagram liked their work, she said, and selected them to do their mural.
The guidelines for the mural were that it was to be bright, cheerful and emblazoned with a positive message.
Borer said they were asked to come up with a design for a mural that could be produced in two weeks, a turnaround team she considered unrealistic at first.
“It seemed very surreal. Their timeline was just crazy and then all of a sudden, we’re just sending a design and getting budgets approved,” Borer said.
“Then, in like two weeks, it was up on the wall,” she added with a snap of her fingers.
Borer said time wasn’t the only constraint; weather and city bylaws would also prove to be obstacles..
For one thing, the wall where Borer’s mural was supposed to go is a designated a heritage site and she was not allowed to paint directly on it. The mural was therefore painted onto about 120 square feet of paneling, which was then mounted on the wall.
To further complicate things, it rained most of the week the team was supposed to paint.
“It wasn’t lightly raining — it was really, really, really raining. So we couldn’t have painted on the wall if we wanted to,” Borer said.
To dodge the bad weather, Borer elected to paint the murals in her partner’s living room. The image was painted on the panel section by section using a projector.
Borer recalls being pleasingly surprised at the turnout for the unveiling in November. She added that judging from the many Instagram pictures she’s seen of people posing in front of the mural, the public has taken well to her creation.
She said she’s quite satisfied with the interactive aspect of her painting, with passersby drawn to taking selfies that appear as if they are holding the strings of the balloons shown in the mural.
Borer said she and her teammates feel lucky that Instagram liked something about their art and feel fortunate that they could be part of the #KindComments movement representing Ottawa globally.