Mother Nature Takes Back What’s Hers

Artist-Initiated Microgrant 2021

A mural featuring flowing rivers and plants growing from concrete is painted on a wall underneath a bridge.
A mural featuring flowing rivers and plants growing from concrete is painted on a wall underneath a bridge.
Artists atop a scaffold use spray cans to paint a mural
A mural featuring flowing rivers and plants growing from concrete is painted on a wall underneath a bridge.
A mural featuring flowing rivers and plants growing from concrete is painted on a wall underneath a bridge.
A mural featuring flowing rivers and plants growing from concrete is painted on a wall underneath a bridge.
Artists atop a scaffold use spray cans to paint a mural
A mural featuring flowing rivers and plants growing from concrete is painted on a wall underneath a bridge.
Previous Slide
Next Slide

Title:

Mother Nature Takes Back What's Hers

Project Completion:

2022

Medium:

Mural

Location:

2042 10th Ave. SW

About the Artist:

NASARIMBA, meaning ‘playful mischief,’ is the collaborative practice of Calgary artists Mikhail Miller and Rachel Ziriada.

Working together since 2015, the duo has cross-pollinated Mikhail’s background in painting and printmaking with Rachel’s background in multi-media installation and design. They have established themselves across Canada and Mexico through mural painting, street interventions and fine art. NASARIMBA has participated in mural festivals in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Winnipeg and has completed projects for clients including Scotiabank, The City of Calgary, AuArts, Tokyo Smoke, Bailey Nelson, and many other local businesses/community organizations.

The summer of 2021 saw their debut in a commercial gallery with a solo exhibition at VIVIANEART in Calgary’s community of Inglewood.

Official Website

The Project

Under the Bow Trail overpass, artist duo NASARIMBA (Mikhail Miller and Rachel Ziriada) discovered a community skate park that residents had developed using bridge architecture and salvaged building materials to create ramps and obstacles for skateboarding. Among this brutalist architecture, the duo created a mural featuring flowing water and plants specific to the region, providing a nature-inspired backdrop to the skate park.

Throughout the painting process, the artists were able to get to know users of the park and pedestrians who frequented the area, developing connections to the space and larger community. Upon completion of the mural, they collaborated with the local skateboarding to involve the Tsuut’ina Youth Program in a day of learning, painting and skateboarding.

The 2021 Artist-Initiated Microgrant

This project was funded as part of the 2021 Artist-Initiated Microgrant. Calgary Arts Development invited Calgary and area artists, or artist teams, to submit ideas to create art in public spaces. This program provided one-time funding of $150,000 overall to support the local artist community through the impacts of COVID, to a maximum of $40,000 for each project. This microgrant program recognized that public art opportunities can come from grassroots ideas that are initiated by professional artists.

Learn more here.

More Information

Our Commitment to Equity

Our commitment to Indigenous reconciliation, racial equity, disability justice, and gender and sexual diversity.

We acknowledge that the land we gather on, Mohkinsstsis, is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations. Today this land is home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Districts 5 and 6 as well as many First Nations and Inuit from across Turtle Island.

We acknowledge that there has been art, music, dance, storytelling and ceremony on this land since time immemorial and it is in the spirit of this land and its people that we do our work.

Please see our full Commitment to Equity, including the sections on our aspirations, accountability, current initiatives and EDIA history.

Want weekly updates in your inbox?

Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to know about news and events.

Newsletter Form