This project is on the unceded and traditional territory of the Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations.
The 224th street pedestrian underpass runs beneath the Haney Bypass and is a key feature connecting Maple Ridge City Centre to the Haney Wharf. The underpass is walking distance from both the urban core of the City, and the banks of the Fraser River, upon which the wharf is situated.
- Completed in July 2023
- Exterior latex paint, epoxy resin coating
- Approx. 580 square feet
- Maple Ridge Public Art Collection
Completed in July 2023 produced during the Haney Artist in Residence with the City and in partnership with British Columbia's Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, the artwork by Aaron S. Moran and Taryn Hubbard was a collaborative effort to help bring more vibrancy to the neighbourhood. The mural design was developed through artist facilitated community engagement sessions that encouraged participants to respond to the environment around the tunnel. At each session, archival photographs, as well as natural materials and objects gathered from around the underpass were available for use by participants. The sessions introduced techniques such as shadow and object tracing, silhouette cutting, and image simplification through collage. The two artists explain:
The mural] has a very contemporary and hard-edge look, but it's actually completely formed by what people were creating during the engagement sessions,” said Moran. “The colours for each face of the mural, reflect heavily on the experiences of seeing birds and hearing water and having those types of natural experiences. Whereas the colours when you're walking toward the city – maybe you're getting off the West Coast Express, or you're listening to some music at the Wharf– are a little bit more of the vibrant, more urban colours of that experience,” said Hubbard. “When you look at the mural, you'll notice white illustrations over top of the colourful shapes. These were inspired by the ideas that came through during the engagement sessions. When we were painting the mural, we had a lot of conversations with residents in the area, who were excited to see this mural take shape, and we were hoping that that same excitement will extend further out into Maple Ridge and that people will come out to see the mural for themselves.
About the Artists
Aaron S. Moran is an award-winning artist and operator of the press Poor Quality. His sculptures, site-specific works and photographs have been exhibited locally, and internationally. In 2011, he held a year-long artist residency at the Ranger Station Gallery in Harrison Hot Springs where he programmed workshops for primary and secondary students, seniors, as well as maintained the attached community art gallery. He has taught at the University of the Fraser Valley and the University of Windsor in the areas of sculpture, printmaking, and interdisciplinary media. More information on his
Taryn Hubbard is a writer whose first full-length poetry collection Desire Path—which focuses on the poetry of place of Surrey, BC—is available now by Talonbooks. She has led creative writing workshops with teachers and students at Surrey Schools and co-founded the South of Fraser Inter-Arts Collective, where she managed community arts programs, including budgets, grants an