THANK YOU to Our Site Crew Team!
Image of VMF Site Crew team in front of a mural in progress
In case you haven’t heard, we’re in the middle of bringing 60+ new murals across 9 neighbourhoods over 3 weeks! In the midst of everything happening we need to take a moment to acknowledge our Site Crew team and express some MASSIVE appreciation for them with special Thanks to Brit Lawrence, VMF’s Mural Production Manager. These folks are truly integral to the process behind each mural production by fulfilling our commitment to our community impact mission of supporting first time mural artists. Not only does our Site Crew provide technical and safety support to the artists, but they also step in as emotional support because well, first of all it can be incredibly overwhelming to paint a public wall and secondly we’ll be the first ones to tell you that not everything always goes to plan when painting a mural! Brit and her team are there for the artists from start to finish ensuring they not only have the support they need, but feel it too.
This year’s team is especially unique, bringing together several returning crew members with some new additions to the family to accommodate the increase of murals. Brit has been part of the VMF fam since starting as a volunteer in 2017 to help out on Bracken Hanuse Corlett’s massive mural on Gene Cafe. This year will be her 3rd year leading the Site Crew! Brit brings her knowledge and experience from a very interesting background. Along with her being a fun person to have a chat with we thought it would be great to introduce her and a little bit of what she does by firing off some questions that she could answer in between her numerous mural site-visits.
What has prepared you for being the Mural Production Manager of 60+ murals across 9 neighbourhoods in 3 weeks?
I think the single thing that prepared me for this work is working at the family business with my sisters. I’ve been working at Lazy Wizard Design (my Mom’s industrial design and installation business) for over 15 years. LWD is the one-stop shop for the installation of the massive Christmas displays in malls including Metrotown and many others. It's lots of trouble shooting, and driving huge boom and scissor lifts, hanging 100s of feet of decor and installing multi storey castles. Just like VMF, it's all about management, logistics, and the creation of safe large-scale artwork that interacts with the public.
Is there something during the festival you’re working on that just never feels finished? And when it finally is finished, how do you celebrate?
What is never finished is the daily task of making things safe, helping folks stay calm and confident, and always adjusting to the changing circumstances of creating art in public spaces. -- Making public art can be more stressful than working in a private studio, and so part of my job is emotional support in addition to the deep technical work. (I also bring 7 years of Nannying skills to the job. That's the kind of job that teaches skills like how to respond to seemingly stressful situations with calmness. And not underestimating the skills that a person does innately have. Which has been endlessly helpful.)
It's super rewarding when we handle challenges professionally. It feels good. Our version of celebration is putting tons of memes or digital hi fives on our shared Site Production Group Channel on WhatsApp (which is our radio!). And donuts.
List of things that are currently in your truck?
Well first of all, the site crew lovingly calls my Nissan Pathfinder 4WD, “The Garbage Truck.” I put this question out to the crew to answer, here is what they said: steel toe boots, danger tape, hard hats, stop / slow signs, delinerators, pool noodles, ratchet straps, paint kit, spray paint, hi vis vest, gaffer tape, hand sani, masks, running shoes, tupperware with paint, downe jacket, furniture blanket, umbrella, phone chargers, various parking passes or tickets, ladders, needle pick up kit, ceramic coffee cup .. shall I go on?
How many coffees do you think you consume over the course of the festival?
Well, let me put it this way, when I stop in at the coffee shop next to VMF HQ, Cafe Milano, the barista starts the conversation with “medium latte, to go, no lid? So yeah, there have been a few coffees.
What’s the biggest mural you’ve worked on?
When I think of the biggest mural, I think about height and access challenges. The mural that tops the list, is the Fintan Macgee mural we did last year. I needed to coordinate the install and drop of four suspended swing stages from the top of a 20 story building and at multiple other levels. This was to allow the team of artists to paint the mural over 4 weeks. The second largest mural was the second Blanketing The City mural on the facade of the former Biltmore Hotel, where we used a Z120 boom lift (the largest boom lift they make). Anything higher and we would have to use a crane truck or a swing stage.
What’s your favourite thing about doing this kind of work?
I really like being the first person on the scene trouble-shooting. Especially with the lifts. It’s very rewarding to help the artists with technical issues around access and painting - we work with mostly first time muralists. With a majority of our artists female-identified, I am able to relate and support these artists as they navigate the process of creating these big works of art.
What advice would you give other women who are getting into professions that are typically male dominated and carried out in male dominated spaces?
Thats a big question…
It’s not easy.
First off, it's important to remember patriarchy wears many masks and even as a woman in power you too could, without your knowledge, be wearing that mask. Power and patriarchy support each other. So remember there may be others around you that need your help to get a leg up. Secondly, the biggest thing to overcome is that any missteps or failures that you have on site often are amplified simply because you are a woman. Whereas if it's a man making the mistake, it’s more often shrugged off as a day on the job. Which it is. With this kind of work, just about all the learning is on the job, there is no classroom to learn all the specifics in advance. So as you learn, there are a lot of moments where you do not know the next step. Which is fine. It can be figured out. My advice is to know that as a woman in these situations, you may not know what the next step is, but I guarantee that lots of the men working with you also do not know. This is normal, and do not get discouraged or allow yourself to be made to feel that you are not prepared! Pool your resources, take a beat and you'll figure it out.
I just hope more women-identifying folks get to work in teams that are as supportive of their skills, knowledge and growth!
Thanks team!!
Image of Site Crew Team jumping in front of a mural in progress.
Left to right: Mike Bock, Kyle Huck, Amira Routledge, Brit Lawrence, Matt Campbell, Ellen Kibble and Kinsey Deakon.
