A Nanaimo Aquatic Centre mural, intended to reflect recommendations of an inquiry into COVID-19 time hate crimes, was officially unveiled today.
B.C. Office of the Human Rights Commissioner released its “From hate to hope: Report of the inquiry into hate in the COVID-19 pandemic” report this March, and as part of that commissioned murals. Local muralists Humanity in Art, with assistance from Risebridge (non-profit) summer program youths, created the artwork, which had its revealing Thursday, Dec. 14.
The mural spans across three walls by the swimming pool entrance and Lys Glassford, one of Humanity in Art’s proprietors, said the work stemmed from “the hate to hope theme.”
“We asked the kids what that meant to them and they came up with a lot of different things, like community connection and dark to light,” said Glassford. “The transition of day to light is very important in different cultures, so they came up with all of those things. One child [suggested] a transformation as well; that’s why we led with the butterfly theme as well.”
B.C. Human Rights commissioner Kasari Govender said she was grateful to Humanity in Art and Risebridge for their partnership. She said the inquiry reflected that hate had increased during the pandemic “dramatically,” with a 118 per cent jump, based on police statistics.
The report had numerous recommendations, including creation of a strategy “on addressing hate, informed by [the] report … with clear timelines, deliverables and transparent reporting.”
When asked if stakeholders were buying in, she said more needs to be done.
“We are seeing some progress from the provincial government,” Govender said. “They announced a couple of initiatives, which are steps in the right direction, but in my view, far too small. Most recently they announced a timeline for a hot line they’d announced some years ago into reporting racism incidents … but it’s quite a robust structure that we recommended, including immediate and free accessible access to mental health supports.”
Govender said she wasn’t sure if that was included in the current government plan.
Glassford said interior latex paint was used for the mural. They and business partner Lauren Semple were able to paint it quickly.
“Lauren and I started [Dec. 4] and we finished this Monday,” they said. “It was really new, really fast, we were working very early mornings to get that done. Everybody was fantastic. We did get kicked out sometimes when rooms were rented because there’s doorways there, but other than that, everyone was so fantastic.”
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