BCIT and Ampco Grafix have a friendship that goes back several years. Ampco has helped create many of the banners around our campuses—including the 50th Anniversary murals. The company sponsored the 2016 Distinguished Awards Dinner and is an ongoing donor to the BCIT Foundation. Bardia Khaledi, who works with the Alumni Relations, recently gave some thought to the work Ampco does and its benefit to BCIT. Below, he shares his thoughts and some artful advice for the BCIT community.
At BCIT, we have turned a page when it comes to art in institutional settings. The stuffy and formal public art of the past is giving way to imaginative, personalized and collaborative projects. One force behind that innovative spirit is Ampco Grafix, specializing in custom large and super wide format graphics for interior and exterior applications.
As part of BCIT’s 50th Anniversary Celebration and the opening of the School of Business’ Centre for Large Format Imaging in 2015, Ampco’s beautifully-made graphics started to grace the walls of the 5 BCIT campuses in the lower mainland. The graphics are thematically diverse: expansive images of earth surrounded by its moon and stars (an ode to aerospace program and innovations); yellow acrobatic airplanes (a celebration of trailblazers and the entrepreneurial spirit at BCIT); a powerful mosaic of salmon swimming in hues of blue and green (an homage to the various environmental programs offered at the Institute); and, a playful image of a bicycle and a Vespa (a nod to the Institute’s commitment to sustainability), just to highlight a few. All these graphics are imbued with images of BCIT students, faculty and citizens of Metro Vancouver who are both the sources of inspiration for and in turn inspired by the visual arts.
According to Picasso, ‘Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life’. Countless studies have shown how visual arts can contribute to mental and physical well-being. While on BCIT campuses, take a few minutes and unplug; your mind could use a rest from assignments, deadlines, and email inboxes. Explore your surroundings. Take in the beauty of those graphic murals mentioned above, empowered with the knowledge that looking at art refreshes us and leaves us less fatigued, more creative, and open to learning. While you are at it, make your own memories, take a selfie, and use the hashtag #lifeatbcit.
Take a look at the impressive things Ampco has done at BCIT here. Then, see more of Ampco’s diverse portfolio of work here.
