Fate and paint: The magic behind the newest mural in Burnaby Heights

The mural outside Heights Yoga is an act of neighbours working together to make it happen. (Heights Yoga/ Facebook)

If you’ve been in the Burnaby Heights area lately, you may have spotted a mural in progress on the wall outside a yoga studio depicting a little girl on the back of a dinosaur.

The artwork is wonderous and whimsical, and the story behind it involves fate bringing two people in the same neighbourhood together to make it happen.

It all started with Yuen Wong, the co-owner of Heights Yoga and Wellness, who wanted to paint a new mural to replace the existing artwork, which was aging and fading.

“It was a mural, but it looked really run down,” said Wong.

“So basically it was me [spearheading the project] because no one would take this on, because it was such a huge task.”

Wong said she initially approached the Heights Merchants Association because the old mural was one the association organized almost two decades ago. She asked them how much a new mural would cost, and they told her it could take thousands of dollars to complete.

“I said, ‘That’s impossible.’ And then thought to myself, ‘Well, there must be a better way to do this.’”

So she decided that she would be the one to make it happen by turning to the help of her community.

Knowing that it would take time away from her role at Heights Yoga, Wong asked her business partners about taking on the project and they were in full support.

The road to painting your own mural isn’t easy, and finding the funds and supplies to do so can be difficult.

“I didn’t even know where to go and where to start,” she said.

But Wong felt strongly about bringing the mural to life.

“The community needed this,” she said.

“Because I lived here for 25 years and I go down Hastings in Burnaby Heights almost five times a day. … So I enjoy it, I enjoy seeing all the murals around the Heights. It’s beautiful. If you ever drive out here, we have so many murals and [this old one on the side of the building] was one of them. I felt that people should have spent more time allocating the resources to it instead of letting it [get] run down.”

While Wong was trying to figure out the next steps, the stars aligned and instead of having to find an artist, the artist found her.

“...Out of the blue, a North Burnaby dad… he emailed us… and he said, ‘You know, you have a mural on the side of your building. I’d love to redo it. What do you think?’”

Although she was delighted by the offer, Wong was worried the artist would turn her down because she didn’t have the funds to pay him.

But he was willing to do the work for free.

The man behind the mural is a local artist named Christopher Ross.

“I just noticed the old mutual was chipping… I think I looked [Heights Yoga] up and yeah, I sent them an email,” Ross told the Beacon.

Ross and Wong got to it right away, removing the old paint from the wall, prepping it, and collaborating on the design. It’s taken hundreds of hours of hard work and teamwork.

Ross credits Wong for gathering all of the supplies and equipment.

She approached various local construction, paint, and rental companies, inquiring if they could donate supplies.

United Rentals lent them a lift for free, Heights Merchants Association was able to donate some money towards the project, and the Cloverdale Paint shop on Boundary Road donated paint.

“I was in the [paint] store and I was just in tears crying because I felt … like everything was coming together to make it happen,” said Wong.

She noted that she wanted to work with companies in Burnaby, because she “wanted this to be a Burnaby project.”

She also set up a GoFundMe page where they received some donations that went towards smaller supplies like paintbrushes and spray paint.

As for the mural design, it stands out for all the right reasons as Ross chose to paint his six-year-old daughter on a triceratops.

Ross, an experienced muralist and painter, said although he doesn’t really “love painting humans” this design “kind of just happened.”

When asked what compelled him to paint the mural for free, he said it came down to a few reasons.

“I thought it would be cool to have a mural next to [my daughter’s] school that we could walk by every day,” he explained.

“And I kind of just needed to paint a mural for my own sanity. It’s been a long time since I’ve moved to Vancouver. Sometimes I’ll go back to Toronto in the summer and do stuff, but I really wanted to get a mural [painted] in Burnaby or Vancouver.”

As for his daughter, Ross said she’s “pretty happy” about the mural, but it’s also not “the hugest deal to her right now.”

Like any six-year-old, Ross said she was more excited to see the dinosaurs on the wall.

“I think she’s more stoked on …seeing me painting,” added Ross.

Yuen said that the mural is nearing completion but she’s hoping Heights Merchants Association can provide a bit more funding to help fix up the sidewalk near the mural. She’s also looking for a pressure washer to borrow for the cleaning process.

Ross said all he really needs is one or two more sunny days to power through and finish up the painting.

Seeing an old wall become a beautiful piece of art has been “surreal,” noted Yuen.

“People take pictures and [stop] by to thank [Ross]. It’s just amazing how [many] emotions you feel going into that wall. … It just feels really nice.”