Milan Basic has his own ideas about downtown revitalization.
Nothing a good coat of point won't cure.
The man whose murals have transformed dull and nondescript building fronts in Prince George into colourful pieces of larger-than-life art is struggling to keep up with his workload these days. Part of that time crunch comes from the fact Basic was stuck in his studio finishing up a five-panel mural for the PGX headquarters at Exhibition Park. As much as he would've liked to be painting urban art motifs on the sides of downtown buildings full-time this summer, he's got two kids to feed and his house painting business pays most of his bills.
But if Basic had it his way, Prince George would become the Chemainus of northern B.C., one large outdoor gallery that would instill pride, not only in the people who live here but for those who pass through as tourists.
"A coat of paint and colour does inspire people and positive imagery is what it's all about," said Basic, 41. "People need to use the downtown core and go to places that improve the place, like the Groop Gallery, Ohh Chocolat Cafe and the Farmers' Market.
"Brightness inspires people."
Lisa Redpath won't argue that point. As project co-ordinator for the Prince & District Community Arts Council, she's all for mural projects or collective ideas like downtown businesses painting their front entrance doors bright colours to distinguish themselves from their neighbours. She says the Arts Council is open to any project that will use art to beautify the city.
"I think the will is there, I'm a big one for copy-catting great ideas," said Redpath.
"The response Milan got at the unveiling of the Canada Winter Games mural [last week] was amazing and we need more of that. Chemainus [with its murals] is absolutely stunning and I wish that for Prince George. There are so many beautiful canvasses that can be done, but it takes a will and it takes funding. We're open to ideas and if it's workable, we'll find the money."
Basic has a background in portrait art, automotive airbrushing, illustrating and graphic design, but first flexed his artistic muscles with carefully-aimed graffiti spray bombs around downtown Vancouver. Word spread about the quality of Basic's graffiti and he was hired to paint storefront murals for Vancouver-area nightclubs, skateboard shops, and arcades and used that to get his foot in the door to work in the film industry as a scenic artist and sculptor. After 11 years making a comfortable living that way, he moved to P.G. two-and-a-half years ago to help support his ex-wife, Anamaria Richardson, a Northern Medical Program student at UNBC, and be close to their two kids, now eight and 10. He had hoped to paint murals full-time in Prince George, but the money wasn't there.
"The [Prince George & District] Community Arts Council applied for a [federal] grant on behalf of the downtown core where I would pretty much spend the summer painting murals all over downtown but we didn't get the grant, so I'm painting houses instead, because that pays the rent," said Basic. "I do what I can, but I see this as my last painting season in Prince George."
Through grants from local sources like Enhance P.G., Basic has left mural impressions on the Groop Gallery alleyway, Tokyo Japanese Cuisine, Rotary Youth Soccer Fields, Studio 2880 and Dsjardines Associates. Before he leaves for Halifax with his family next June, he'll have decorated two more downtown alley walls and a boxcar at the Prince George Railway and Foresty Museum. He also does sketches of people involved in court cases that have been published in The Citizen.
Basic has seen some of the graffiti [also known as tagging] left behind on bridges and in alleyways around town by anonymous artists, some of it of a good enough quality to leave him wondering why the artist hasn't joined the urban art program he oversees with the Arts Council. Dubbed "Tagging is a Just a Waste of Good Paint," the free program now includes a handful of artistically-inclined participants, aged 13 and 14, who work with Milan on his projects. He's hoping his influence will wear off on them enough to keep them involved in urban art after he leaves.
"Eventually, these kids have to do it themselves and I'm just showing them the ropes and showing them how the pros do it, and hopefully they will realize this is pretty accessible," Basic said. "It's a matter of them continuing to draw and develop their styles."
Redpath can think of no one better qualified to teach urban art to teenagers than Milan, who ran a similar program for kids arrested for spraying graffiti in Vancouver.
"To learn what Milan does, you kind of have to learn off the street, that graffiti style," said Redpath. "He's a graffiti kid and he was lucky enough to have a mentor, so he understands about giving back. Graffiti is different than vandalism. Vandalism is when they just scribble nonsense. Graffiti art is an art form in itself and a lot of young people embrace it. It started on the train cars that come across Canada, and it's beautiful."
Redpath is hoping to use Basic's art and that of other artists like Jennifer Pighin, the PGSS art teacher who is now working on an HIV-inspired, Northern Health-funded artwork at the Fire Pit on Third Avenue, to create a downtown mural alley walk and turn it into a tourist attraction, similar to art walking routes already in place in Penticton, Nelson and Vancouver.
