A woman is begging the Vancouver Park Board to not remove a memorial bench she painted as a tribute to a New Westminster teacher who was killed in July 2015.
Julia Goudkova and Colin Leslie Mackay were together for nine years, until he died in a motorcycle crash in Kamloops. Mackay taught Grade 5/6 students at Lord Kelvin Elementary School.
July 2 is the four-year anniversary of Mackay’s death and leading up to the date, she cleaned up and painted the memorial bench.
“Our family, friends and community had planned to gather at his memorial bench in Kitsilano (by Ogden and Maple) to hold a sacred ceremony and honour the man who had forever touched our lives,” reads a statement. “His memorial bench was beginning to look weathered and grey, and I felt inspired to breathe some life and colour back into it. I spent over four days sanding, washing, priming and painting it.”
Goudkova said in her statement that the Vancouver Park Board told her it was going to remove the bench because she painted it.
Now she has started a Change.org petition looking for support in her efforts to keep the bench, at least until the July 2 anniversary.
The statement on the petition says: “How is it that so many of the residents of this city love this public art, and yet the city is set on destroying it?”
According to a story on Global tonight, however, the park board sent a message saying that the bench could remain until July 2, but it’s unclear what will happen to it after that date.
Goudkova discussed on the petition Mackay’s impact on those around him.
“Colin was many things to many people: son, brother, uncle, friend, teacher, anti-bullying activist, writer, poet, actor, bartender and world-adventurer. To me, he was my soulmate. His infectious, vibrant energy inspired all those around him. He loved life and seized every moment.”
In 2017, Goudkova hosted an art show in his memory to raise funds for the Colin Mackay Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships to students in the Rocksolid program, a fine arts and anti-bullying program offered at New Westminster Secondary School.
You can read the petition here.
