Rolling hills, Inland Northwest wildflowers and blue skies make up the mural you’ll find on the corner of Indiana and Lincoln. Two Gonzaga University art majors, Bri Covert and Hayley Nigrelle, spent the last three months turning nothing into something.
Both artists are familiar with independent work, commissions and other artistic modes but in June, a new type of opportunity fell into their laps.
“My really good friend Auden visited me in June,” Covert said. “I was talking to his grandmother who lives in Spokane, her name is Ilene, and she said ‘I have this attached garage and there’s a lot of graffiti. If you do art, I would love to have you work on this.’”
Ilene has been living in Spokane for 16 years and was looking for a way to deter the mismatched graffiti that was being painted on the exterior wall.
After finishing up her summer courses, Covert began sketching ideas for the space and it took off from there.
Conceptually, the mural is meant to brighten up the area.
“She was pretty open about what she wanted," Covert said. "I narrowed that down, and by the time everything had gotten primed and ready, and we knew what we were doing, Hayley had come back into Spokane and just said ‘Hey do you want to hop on this project with me?’ And it was awesome to take this project on together.”
Covert said Nigrelle and her had always been good friends but had never had the opportunity to collaborate on any artistic endeavors.
“It was really fun to see how our art styles meld together and not just our personalities,” Covert said.
Covert said she was familiar with Nigrelle’s floral work and thought it would be something right up her alley.
Then, it was just a matter of figuring out how to technically and stylistically approach the work as a team.
“This was a two person job, especially with how big the wall is,” Nigrelle said. “This was kind of my first professional project and I had never done anything to this capacity. I have experience with flowers and stuff and this was the first time both of us have done something like this. We work really well together.”
The mural is a blend of both artists' techniques and Ilene wasn’t the only one to benefit from the new piece of art. During the process, Covert and Nigrelle said they were both slightly shocked by the positive responses they received from passersby.
During their painting, the duo said they received a number of comments from people who are experiencing houselessness in the close community that were expressing their gratitude to Cover and Nigrelle for creating something that was happy and lighthearted.
“[The mural] is a bright way to brighten up the city and create public spaces and it’s a nice way to represent the community,” Nigrelle said. “As we were working on it, we had people walk by that would say ‘Thank you so much for doing this. It really brightens up my day walking through this alley.’”
Nigrelle said she was grateful for the accolades as it added a new layer of meaning to the work that she and Covert were doing on the corner of Indiana and Lincoln.
“It was really nice to hear,” Nigrelle said. “Even though the mural wasn’t directly intended for them, they still enjoyed it and could interact with it. I think it’s important that people know that outside of our campus there are opportunities to give back to the community that aren't just through GU.”
The mural was completed at the end of September, leaving Ilene with a bright garage that will carry its light into Spokane’s cold months ahead.
“Overall, it was such a great opportunity,” Covert said. “Brightening up this area for herself [Ilene] and other people that live there and occupy that space became really apparent to Hayley and I while we were painting. It was transformative work that I didn't anticipate affecting the community as much as it did.”