New mural in Cathedral honours teen and loved ones

You might notice something new and colourful on your next walk in the Cathedral neighbourhood.

A bright mural, inspired by stained glass covers three window panes of the Sobey’s Liquor Store on 13th Avenue.

The art piece and artistic space was inspired by Tesalyn Zizzy-Mustatia, a Regina teen who passed away in a car accident back in 2002.

Tess’ mom Bev Zizzy is amazed that her daughter is still making the news and impacting the community.

“I feel joy that this is happening,” Zizzy said. “It’s bittersweet of course. It’s difficult to look at my daughter’s name still and not feel a bit choked but on the other hand, she’d be pretty happy with what’s going on. But it’s not just about her.”

She encourages people to think of their loved ones who passed away when they see the mural.

The new artwork replaces a mural of Tess — painted by her high school friends to honour her memory — which lived in the Cathedral neighbourhood for 18 years.

“They got an old school projector from Campbell Collegiate,” Zizzy said. “They drew it on the wall. So they had to work after sundown. They would start around 11:00 at night. My job was to deliver caffeine and donuts. I hung out all night with them.”

Tess’ friends worked on the mural over the winter of 2002 and the completed mural was part of the 2003 Cathedral Village Arts Festival (CVAF).

“We never thought that it would last,” she said. “We didn’t expect anything, it was all a gift. It stayed up for 18 years and then we heard the property was coming down. It was like wow, that’s pretty trippy, it’s exactly how long she was on the planet. There’s something special about that. It was a nice full circle.”

Over 20 years later, the new mural was part of this year’s CVAF.

Developers in the area offered to replace the mural of Tess for Zizzy and her family. After some thought, the family decided it was time for something new.

“We decided the mural served its purpose and many people have moved on as they should,” she said. “It did what it needed to do and it was a wonderful tribute. It would be far more meaningful if we could just make the space available for artists to continue that tradition. We were offered a plaque as a tribute to Tess and that’s what we ended up doing.”

The plaque sits in front of the mural. Zizzy and her son worked together to decide what the plaque should say.

“He rejected everything I had to say as being too old-school and boring,” she said with a laugh.

“We came up with something that was Tess’ voice. We both thought that rocked quite a lot. And it fits the environment and the setting which is a liquor board store house of spirits. So ‘revel in the beautiful gift called life’ is what will be there. It would be really special if when people remember Tessa, they would remember someone dear to them who walks beside them in silence. It became far more than about just my daughter but about everyone who has someone walking beside them now in silence.”

Bev Ziggy is honoured that her daughter is still remembered and continuing to inspire others in Regina. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)

Zizzy was overcome by joy when the mural was revealed.

She tapped on her heart and said, “it’s just total gratitude.”

She shed a tear after seeing her daughter’s name on the plaque.

“But I think that sadness and joy are part of the same point, they just flip over,” Zizzy said. “I’ve always felt that that amount of joy you can feel is proportional to the amount of pain that you can also endure. Tessa has taught us to be very compassionate and appreciative of life.”

Artist behind the piece

Mackenzy Vida alongside her friend Casey Lang were the two artists behind the mural.

Vida said the project took months and they are so happy to share it with the community.

“This festival is so important for the city,” Vida said. “It brings together people from all over the city. Like a mosaic, so many different pieces and colours come together to make this beautiful event. It’s so special to be able to share this with everyone.”

The pair took inspiration from the neighbourhood itself.

“When we proposed the design, we took inspiration from stained glass windows, specifically the ones that you see in Holy Rosary Cathedral here on 13th Ave,” Vida said.

“With stained glass, I really think it’s beautiful. It’s a mosaic of all of these different pieces of glass. Sometimes it can be done with reclaimed glass or even pieces that have been broken and these shards of glass are given a new life. We really wanted something colourful that would add to the already eclectic and vibrant community here on 13th Ave. We also pulled in some Saskatchewan motifs and went with a really bold colour pallet and we are so so happy with how it turned out.”

While some people might not put math and art together, Vida said it took a lot of math to get the piece right.

“A lot of the heavy lifting was the prep-work,” she said. “So finding out how to paint on this kind of material, what kind of basecoat, how can we give it the longest lasting life possible? The design has evolved from every sketch that we did. From the initial one, to a digital mockup, to then drawing it on the panels. It’s really beautiful to watch it evolve. We were even surprised with how this turned out! Like seeing it actually on the building is a thousand times better than we could have imagined.”

When the art was finally revealed, Vida was filled with emotions and teared up.

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“Bev shared some lovely words about why this mural had come up to carry on the legacy of the original mural that was dedicated to her daughter,” Vida said. “Her words made me emotional. And also just being here with not just my friends and family but also community and colleagues and other artists that I know and have worked with it’s just one of the things that I love about Regina is the grassroots support. Seeing it and actually pulling the cover off I couldn’t help but start crying because it was so surreal until it’s there in front of you. And you see all those hours of work that you put in and you get to just step back and be done with it. It’s out in the world now.”