What started as a damaged storefront has become one of the brighter spots along a Kelowna roadway.
After a vehicle crashed through the front windows on June 13th at Sweet Repeats Consignment Co., owner Deb Liebholtz was left staring at sheets of plywood covering the damage.
Instead of seeing an eyesore, she saw an opportunity.
“As I sat in my car watching the crews put up the plywood walls, I thought to myself, ‘How do I make this into a positive community story?’” Holtz said.
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She reached out to local artist Melissa Dinwoodie and gave her a simple direction: create something joyful and let people know the store was still open.
“She just said, OK, yeah, I trust you, I want it to be joyful and happy,” Dinwoodie said.
The result was a bright floral mural covering the temporary wall.
While many murals can take weeks or even months to complete, Dinwoodie squeezed this project into an already busy schedule.
“I did it in seven hours; that’s not normal,” she said. “That was my fastest mural.”
The mural has already become a talking point in the community.
“We are getting a lot of people coming by, commenting on the brightness,” said Holtz. “It’s a way to go for making lemonade out of lemons.”
And when the storefront is repaired, Holtz says the artwork won’t be disappearing.
“I love it, I’m keeping it.”
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