The Saanich Police Department and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre have partnered to support Indigenous Youth in creating a mural on the Seaton tunnel. A proposal was submitted to the Civil Forfeitures office for a grant funding program in early December and the application was successful.
The Seaton Splash mural is a youth based community project and is being led by the Saanich Police Community Engagement Division in partnership with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre-Youth Department. This mural is a graffiti crime prevention project with the added benefit of providing Indigenous youth with an opportunity to showcase their culture in a positive environment. The Seaton tunnel is a high volume underpass that provides a safe route for pedestrians under the Trans-Canada Highway. This location is a long-standing graffiti hotspot in Saanich.
The project seeks to empower local Indigenous Youth to look within their cultural teachings and protocols which speak to Reconciliation. Each youth has created an art form in collaboration with their peers to create a mural that showcases the interpretation of what Reconciliation is to them as Indigenous Canadian youth.
This project has the potential to explore the viability of a larger youth program that brings together community stakeholders in a positive way that betters the community and remediates graffiti.