'I love colour - it makes the place feel happier'

New mural brightens IV therapy clinic at WestView Health Centre

Story by Chelsea Blair

STONY PLAIN — The IV therapy clinic here is much brighter these days thanks to a vibrant new mural painted by Toni Sparks, an Environmental Services worker at WestView Health Centre.

“When I saw that they were patching the drywall and that they were going to repaint it anyway, I thought, ‘you know, what would be more interesting than beige?’,” says Sparks.

So she went ahead, drew a concept and shared her proposal with site director Ellen Elliott, who told her to “go for it”. And just like that, within a week, the clinic had a new mural.

“Anything we can do to make patients’ experience more enjoyable is always welcome,” says Elliott. “We’re so grateful to Toni for sharing her talent and time to improve patient experience.”

Volunteering her free time, Sparks painted for three nights straight, while the clinic was closed, to avoid any inconvenience to patients.

For her floor-to-ceiling creation, she drew upon a palette of orange, purple and yellow hues to create a layered abstract scene throughout the recently converted office space that now houses three additional IV therapy stations in the clinic.

As an IV therapy patient herself, Sparks has been a regular at the clinic, receiving treatment monthly, for nearly six years. She says that seeing the finished mural makes her smile. “Hospitals can be so dreary. I love colour. It makes the place feel bigger and seem happier.”

Sparks fell in love with art and painting while in high school and applies her talents in her own home. “I’ve been painting murals in my house ever since I moved in. I have murals planned out for the whole place.”

The Town of Stony Plain is known for more than 40 outdoor art pieces that depict local heritage and people. Sparks’ mural fits right in among the four other murals in the health centre, also painted by local artists.

If she could, Sparks says she would paint all of WestView.

“There’s so much potential.”