What started as a dream for Mayuresh Ambekar is now an enormous artistic addition to the Richmond campus of Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU).
Mayuresh Ambekar and the mural he created at KPU Richmond
Ambekar, who graduated from KPU's Entertainment Arts as an international student, spent a month creating a mural the size of a bus outside the department's third-floor space.
"I've been planning and dreaming about this mural since the day I enrolled in the university. I've always wanted to paint a mural in the campus where I'm studying," says Ambekar, who earned a Diploma in Advanced VFX (Virtual Production) in 2023.
Ambekar drew creative inspiration from the Arcane anime TV series.
"The two portraits of Jinx, a character from Arcane, captures her spirit and the collaborative effort behind production, similar to how each student contributes unique talents to a project. Through this mural, I aimed to honour both the show and the creative process, reflecting the journey from concept to execution, which parallels the educational path at KPU," he says.
Ambekar was a mural artist for over 10 years in India before moving to Vancouver. Since then, he's been painting murals around the city as well as working with the Vancouver Mural Festival.
"I've painted roughly 25 to 30 murals here in Vancouver but I was not the lead artist on them. I was usually managing the production, supporting mural artists and look after the technical things," explained Ambekar.
The KPU mural, measuring 6.1 metres long and 2.4 metres high, was Ambekar's first time being a lead artist on a large-scale project, responsible for everything from designing to painting.
"As an immigrant in a new country, landing major projects as a lead artist can be challenging, especially when most roles are limited to production painting. But this project is truly unique and meaningful. My hope is that it motivates students to explore their potential and embrace the challenges and rewards of their artistic journeys," he says.
