Delta residents are invited to kick off summer at the city's first-ever Street Mural Painting Party.
On Sunday, June 22 at the Bridge Street Pop-Up Park in Ladner, visitors can help paint a professionally designed, large-scale art piece on Bridge Street.
“June gives us so many reasons to get outdoors and celebrate in our community, and the Bridge Street Mural Painting Party welcomes everyone to get involved, show off their creativity, and make a mark on their city,” Mayor George Harvie said in a press release.
“I can’t think of a better way to kick off the season than through socializing at a pop-up park and contributing to making Delta a vibrant, summer hot spot.”
Mural artist Amy Walker, from MakeMobile, will start the street mural on Thursday, June 19, prior to the public event, by painting the larger design and a canvas of blank, stencilled fish shapes. The painting party on June 22 begins at 10 a.m. and will conclude at 4 p.m. with Walker unveiling the complete collaborative work.
Limited walk-up spots will be available on the day of the event; those planning to attend the free painting party are encouraged to reserve their half-hour timeslot by visiting delta.ca/paintingparty.
Once completed, the mural will be a backdrop for the Bridge Street Pop-Up Park all summer long, providing a "fitting tribute to the sense of community that the [pop-up] parks inspire," according to a city press release.
Eight locations have been selected for this year's pop-up park program: Bridge Street and the Elliot Street Wharf in Ladner, South Delta Art Gallery and Diefenbaker Park in Tsawwassen, and Sungod Recreation Centre and Gunderson Park in North Delta, plus outdoor reading rooms at the George Mackie and Tsawwassen libraries.
Amenities will vary from one to the next. Some, like Bridge Street, will be furnished with Adirondack chairs, wheelchair-accessible picnic tables with umbrellas, pianos painted by local artists and movable patio tables.
As well, a selection of games will be featured in the various pop-up parks, including ping pong, foosball, bocce, scoop ball, mini golf, ladder ball, cornhole, disc golf, giant Connect4 and giant Jenga.
In North Delta, the Sungod site will feature Adirondack chairs and picnic tables in the grass triangle outside the main entrance, plus an "outdoor games room" between the arena and parking lot with giant Jenga, giant Connect4, a picnic table with umbrella, string lights and a chalkboard mounted to one wall.
Gunderson Park, meanwhile, will host a pop-up five-hole disc golf course.
The pop-up parks will be available to the public from dawn until 10 p.m. throughout the summer, and select locations will have outdoor patio lighting on timers.
