Penticton students help launch ‘Friendly Streets’ initiative – Okanagan

KVR Middle School students were out painting Jermyn Street on Friday as part of the City of Penticton’s new ‘Friendly Streets’ initiative.

This is the first of many street painting projects planned for Penticton, which includes community collaboration, asphalt art and other creative elements.

“It is a two-pronged approach. One, the focus is on safety, and we know that there are studies out there that painted crosswalks and painted elements draw driver attention to their surroundings,” said Penticton’s Infrastructure general manager Kristen Dixon.

“So, there is the safety element, but it is also a fun way to engage the community and let them take ownership of some of this infrastructure.”

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The installation is now painted on either side of a newly raised crosswalk that connects KVR to Penticton Secondary School.

The murals and painted concrete blocks mark a no-stopping area and will hopefully encourage drivers to slow down.

“It actually started out when the principal reached out to us awhile back asking about the safety of crossing in general,” said Dixon.

“We had plans in place to do the raised crosswalk. And as we started working on those plans with the school, we thought why not make it more fun and add a painting element to it.”

The project has been in the works since January, and around 20 students oversaw the mural design, colours and concept.

The final design now ties together the school colours of KVR and Penticton Secondary.

“One of our designs in the warmer colours, the (Penticton Secondary) colours which are orange and purple, are circles which represent community, and they form triangles for strength,” said KVR Grade 8 student Emma Agarwal.

“Our other design is in different shades of blue (for KVR) and that’s triangles and that represents unity and again strength.”

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The next art installation is planned for Saturday, June 1, at the intersection of Ellis and Nanaimo in downtown Penticton.

While the city is working with a team of artists and volunteers to oversee this work, the entire community is invited to take part in this street painting project. More details will be released before the event.

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