Slackwater Brewing is a big place. With big walls. And nowhere is that more evident than the giant white façade towering over the adjacent HSBC parking lot and Westminster Avenue beyond that.
It's big and it's bland and it's situated on one of the busiest corners in the downtown core, which means it sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.
But not anymore.
This weekend, an artist named Siya Ghaffari began affecting some rather serious changes. By the time he's finished his extra-large mural -- in less than 48 hours -- the north wall of Slackwater Brewing will go from dull to dazzling.
Turns out the beautification project has been part of the agenda ever since Slackwater opened.
"Yeah, we're super excited to finally get around to a project we wanted to do since we started," said Slackwater Production & Marketing Manager Liam Peyton Sunday afternoon. "The purpose was always to give something nice and vibrant to the downtown core.
"We've been working with local artists, especially Renee (Matheson of the soon-to-be-reopened Matheson and Grove Gallery), since day one."
The mural won't be hyper-complex or critically detailed. But it will be dynamic.
It'll also be on brand.
"We were looking at doing something more contemporary with die-cut decals with some kind of paint and textures in the background," said Peyton.
"And then we talked to Renee and she got Siya involved and he started pumping out proofs based on some of the artwork inside the building and putting his twist on things. So we're excited to see what he's projecting on that wall."
For artist/muralist Ghaffari, the Slackwater job is yet another indication of how far he's come. Sunday afternoon he was blasting the jazz music from his boombox and chatting with random folks on the street while plotting what's sure to be an eye-catching display.
Such behavior in his native Iran, he said, could have got him jailed. Or worse.
"My country, before 1979 (the year of the Iranian Revolution), was amazing," said the long-time artist. "I'm from Tehran. It was so beautiful. People wanted to come to Tehran to work and to live.
"But after the revolution, everything was upside down."
According to Ghaffari, freedom and democracy evaporated with the revolution as Iran became ideologically-driven.
"And ideology controlled everything in our life," he said. "What do you do if somebody comes to you and says you cannot wear this shirt, or you cannot have a drink, or unless you're Muslim, you cannot work?"
Ghaffari remembers his university being forcibly closed and students being ushered off to war. He remembers house-to-house book searches. And he remembers citizens being killed "on the street."
"They killed the poets, the writers, the painters. The cinema directors. It's so painful."
"I remember doing a mural like this," he said. "But not listening to jazz and doing the art on a nice afternoon. You had to work at midnight. One person checked one end of the street, another checked the other end, and two people jumped on the wall and painted as quickly as they could.
"My life there was underground."
But he eventually got out. Ghaffari came to Canada in 1991, and moved to Penticton in 2015. And now with his "dear friend" Renee Matheson guiding the ship, he's working his magic at one of the highest profile intersections in the city.
In 48 hours, we'll all get to see the results of his efforts.
