Bottle Cap Mural Project

When you are strolling the main street in Enderby, you are immediately greeted by an eclectic mix of the new and the old, with the sum presenting an undeniable sense of community and culture. It saturates the personality of the walkways, and the shops and services. Recently installed beside the Enderby and District Art Centre is Enderby’s newest public art project – an absolutely stunning example of the vision of one artist. This mural, installed on three 4’ x 6’ panels, transforms a sad and empty space employing the use of colour and captivating impressions.

The seed of this project began in the small town of Sayulita, Mexico where Diane Larsen and friends were visiting and saw the town’s metal heart in the town square. Back in Enderby, Diane – a founding member of Enderby’s Courtyard Gallery – with support from the other members, went to work with her brother to build and install their own version of the heart.

Planning for a mural began and the public was invited to deposit their used bottle caps in the newly installed heart. Over the ensuing months, the heart was emptied three times, and the caps were sorted by colour. Diane worked on sketches for the design, bringing her thoughts to gallery meetings for input from gallery members, ultimately incorporating the concept of sky, land and water in her final design.

Five gallery members alternately worked on the panels in a back room of the Art Center. Diane, with her watchful eye, supervised and created a three-dimensional colour gradated beautiful mural. After the gluing process, other members of the community were included in the challenging process of screwing the caps securely in place.

Earlier this season, on Courtyard Gallery’s Art Festival day, a tent was set up and the bags and boxes of bottle caps were brought in for the community to complete two sunflower panels, which are also on display alongside the main mural.

The heart still stands in the Courtyard and the community continues to come through to fill the heart, as the energy has inspired interest within the community. Thank you Diane for this fantastic project and all your hard work. Truly, one person CAN make a difference.

Written by Bonnie Baker-Bacigalupo