The Blue Bridge Theatre at the old Roxy is no longer solid blue, thanks to a bright and colourful new mural on the building’s south side.
The stylized work by mural artist Tasha Diamant refers conceptually to theatre in precarious times, according to a news release.
The characters are from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Diamant said in the release “but instead of taking place in an idyllic forest glade, the three distressed fairies are in a clear cut. The sky is fiery red and the ass sergeant looks on indifferently. A midsummer nightmare.”
Diamant, 60, is a mother of two, longtime visual and performance artist, social justice activist, former university instructor, as well as a survivor of Stage 4 cancer and several serious medical interventions.
She painted the 16-foot by 35-foot mural freehand, sometimes using a tall ladder.
“It was right on the edge of my brain writing cheques my body can’t cash,” Diamant said.
Diamant wants people to know that a cancer diagnosis, disability, and age do not define a person.
The mural is part of the Quadra Village Mural Project, which has brought eight new murals to the community since 2020 thanks to support from the City of Victoria, BC Arts Council, and Alter Arts Society.
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