Richmond’s Gateway Theatre’s Gilbert Road-facing wall has been transformed into a work of art by a mural artist hoping to tell stories of the Gateway family and connect with the local community.
This 24 feet high by 135 feet long mural, titled “stages of the bloom,” depicts different kinds of flowers blossoming during the springtime.
According to visual artist Carmen Chan, this concept is very similar to students and artists at the Gateway Theatre, who are also growing in different ways.
Chan told the Richmond News that the flowers painted on the wall are metaphors to represent different community members at the theatre, who’re thriving daily by engaging with performing arts.
She said she found her inspiration when she started planting seeds and growing her vegetables at a community garden close to her house.
“For me, it’s inspirational because every day, I went to look at these flowers and saw them changing and getting bigger,” said Chan.
“The staff is nurturing the community and are all working together to create a space to include everybody.
“The mural is meant to capture the feelings and flowers are growing in their own time, own space, own pace and they came together to create something beautiful.”
Chan said she believes that everyone can be an artist, adding that the pandemic somehow created a platform for more people to reconnect by exploring their hobbies and understanding what drives them.
For more information, visit http://www.gatewaytheatre.com/available-now/our-mural.
