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546 Sargent Avenue
Location Map
Costa Rica.
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Location: SE corner Sargent & McMicken; West Face
Occupant: Automotive Source of Canada (formerly Paradise Travel)
District: West End
Neighbourhood: Spence
Artist(s): Mandy van Leeuwen, Jennifer Johnson Pollock
Year: 2003
Sponsors: West End BIZ, Neighbourhoods Alive! (Manitoba), Take Pride Winnipeg!
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Mandy van Leeuwen: "This is an image of Costa Rica. We had a lot of people in the area
stop and say that it reminded them of home. The idea of doing water was exciting and
having a real wet feeling about the wall. It's tropical scene and we made a great big
macaw; a fun twist of the whole colour scheme. We just wanted to have a peaceful scene
so you don't see a lot happening here. That's a whole idea of travel, to relax. We had
some photos given to us, and some we found of Costa Rica, but the scene itself is a
composite. There is a volcanic mountain in the background. The wall was stucco, so it's
very hard to work on when it comes to achieving the detailing. It was very hot working
here. I really liked working on Sargent Avenue; the people there were really funny and
really involved in what's going on around them."
Jennifer Johnson Pollock: "This is one of my favourites. It's unique, and it's simple. I
really like this one because of the contrast in colours: the Caribbean blue-green ocean, the
deep blue sky, the gold beach, and the huge red macaw. There are different textures in
there, from the water, the soft blue sky, to the branch the bird is on. This was hard
because it was stucco. That was a challenge but I'm quite happy with the way it turned
out! It's so vibrant; not too busy, calm and relaxed. It makes you want to be there! In a
way that's the point of it because it's on the side of a travel agency. We camouflaged the drain pipe. We had one
gentleman come up and tell us he used to have one of those birds as a pet. His face was
lit up because it reminded him of positive childhood memories."
Mandy: "We hired a really good friend to apply the graffiti coat. The problem was due to
the hot weather, it went on milky and dried that way, but it certainly wasn't her fault. I
went back and repainted the scene in only two days."
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