Students at SFU’s Surrey campus were welcomed back to school this semester with some unique artwork.

The Post-it Art Competition, hosted by the SFU Surrey Terry Fox Coordinating Committee, helped raise awareness for the Terry Fox Walk and Run, and brought students and staff together to indulge their creativity by using an office mainstay: the Post-it note.

Two of the windows on Podium 3 were covered in multicoloured sticky notes, making out two designs: the name “Terry Fox,” and a silhouette of Terry’s running figure. These art pieces, created by the entrants, added a pop of colour to the otherwise grey columns and walls.

Students and staff came together from September 12–23 to create artwork that centred around the theme of Terry Fox and his legacy. Soon, the windows along Podium 3 and the fourth floor glass balcony overlooking the Mezzanine were covered in Post-it Notes.

The use of office supplies to create artwork is not new. One creative competition came from New York, when an employee used Post-it notes to write out a simple “Hi” and waited for someone to respond. Soon after, an employee in a building across from them replied back with “Sup.” Within days, a full-out “Post-it war” broke out, with companies in both buildings working to create both simple and elaborate designs, from Pac-Man to Spider-Man.

Trisha Dulku, the community projects coordinator, hoped that bringing the Post-it Art Competition to Surrey would not only get students connected with the Terry Fox cause but also provide a creative outlet for students, to help them break up studying and schoolwork.

“In the past, there was always a problem with student engagement for the Terry Fox Run at Surrey,” Dulku told The Peak. “This [Post-it Art Competition] is a great opportunity for students to connect with other students as well as faculty and staff.”

Staff member Alison Chan, who is a coordinator for community engagement, agreed with Dulku: “An activity like this is great for [staff], because we usually don’t get to do creative stuff like this.”

First-year student Kaitlyn Trim, who participated in the competition as part of the faculty of arts and social sciences First-Year Learning Community team, enjoyed the opportunity to work collectively with her peers to create something special.

“Working on [the Post-it Art] definitely made it more personal,” Trim said. “Seeing your own peers making something happen is encouraging, and on top of that, the artwork is really nice to look at.”

SFU alumni, like Manjot Badesha, also got in on the action. Badesha helped to create the Terry Fox silhouette as part of the Terry Fox Coordinating Committee, and said that “it’s amazing to see students, staff, faculty and alumni [come] together to bring awareness to a great cause.”

Collectively, the Terry Fox Coordinating Committee hopes that this extra pop of colour will increase participation for the Terry Fox Run/Walk, which takes place on September 30.

You can sign up and run, volunteer for the event, or donate to the cause.