Create Your First Project
Start adding your projects to your portfolio. Click on "Manage Projects" to get started
One Song Staircase
Client:
City of Nanaimo
Artist Credit:
This artwork was created collaboratively by Humanity Art, an artistic partnership between Lys Glassford and Lauren Semple.
Collaborator:
Poet Laureate Tina Biello
Year:
2020
Location:
Diana Krall Plaza, Arts District, Downtown Nanaimo, BC
Scope:
Painted staircase mural incorporating poetry and soundwave imagery. COVID-19 social distancing theme
Created by Humanity Art: Lys Glassford and Lauren Semple.
Project Overview
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Nanaimo commissioned Humanity in Art to design a public art piece that could honour the community's shared experience and offer space for reflection and hope. Located on an outdoor staircase at the rear of Diana Krall Plaza, the mural transformed an underused passageway into a vibrant artwork and poetic installation.
The project was conceived as a tribute to unity, distance, and emotional connectivity during pandemic isolation. Humanity in Art partnered with Nanaimo’s Poet Laureate Tina Biello, drawing inspiration and text from her piece One Song.
Concept & Collaboration
The mural’s central concept stemmed from Biello’s writing, with the final line of her poem recorded in spoken word. Humanity in Art translated the audio recording of artist Lauren Semple’s voice into a radial soundwave graphic, positioned as the heart of the staircase mural.
Typography from the poem was integrated throughout the design, alongside flowing lines and colour gradients that mimicked sound travel and emotional reverberation. The staircase was painted in vivid tones that played across concrete contours, symbolizing both separation and shared journey, echoing the dynamics of social distancing.
Execution
The mural was completed on-site using exterior-grade paints suitable for high-traffic public surfaces. The artists adapted their design to account for angled steps, vertical risers, and the architectural rhythm of the stairway. The installation balanced aesthetic beauty with thematic depth, accessible to casual viewers while rewarding closer engagement.
Impact
The One Song Staircase activated a formerly overlooked space within Nanaimo’s Arts District, offering a visual and poetic experience grounded in community memory. It received public recognition for its emotional resonance and creative use of soundwave translation, becoming a symbolic landmark of local resilience.
The mural remains publicly accessible and continues to serve as a reminder of how art can foster reflection and connection, even across physical distance.
