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UVic student Gedidiah McCaughey is painting the
town blue in Cadboro Bay—and the community residents
are delighted.
McCaughey, 28, in his second year of a fine arts program, was picked from seven artists who submitted
designs for a mural on the side of the People’s Pharmacy
in Cadboro Bay. The district of Saanich contributed
a grant toward the mural as part of its centennial
celebrations.
This is the first commission for McCaughey, who
has explored various mediums but never painted an
80-foot wall before: “I’m having a good time doing
this. It’s a fun project,” he says.
A headphone clamped to his ear, McCaughey listens
to rock music while he paints the background and
outlines of the mural, but he also enjoys passersby who
stop to peer at the work in progress.
The mural, set on a blue background, is an abstract
modern piece with some recognizable features. If you
look closely, Cadborosaurus is in there, as well as
Mystic Vale. A solid line running through the images
evokes the first telegraph sent to Victoria from the San
Juan Islands.
“It’s fabulous,” says Leah Kinarthy, coordinator of
the Cadboro Bay Village Business Improvement Association,
who came up with the idea for the mural. “It will brighten up that whole area.”
Eventually Kinarthy hopes to see more murals created
by other university artists gracing the neighbourhood’s
walls: “UVic is just up the hill and there are so
many talented students there. We were blown away by
the quality of the submissions we received,” she says.
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