PUBLIC ART: The Allied Arts Council is represented on the City of Lethbridge Art Committee and also provides administrative and communication support for the City’s public art program as part of our leadership role. The City’s public art collection experienced substantial growth in 2018 with the realization of a number of projects as well as the approval of a number of projects that will be installed in years to come. The year started on a high note with a public art selection committee meeting in February to select two major art projects for the new ATB Leisure Centre. Calgary artist Derek Besant’s work, Near & Far, a large mural which references multiple layers of water drops and a work by Toronto artists Jennifer Marman and Daniel Borins, The Ball is in Your Court, a series of ten massive paintings on baffling material which reference the grid lines of a basketball court and a coaches playbook were selected and presented to City Council in March for final approval. Near & Far will be installed in the aquatics area and The Ball is in Your Court will be installed in the Galleria and running track areas. A selection meeting was held in September to short list artists for a third ATB Centre project. The Sports Hall of Fame project is an integrated project to create displays for both objects and digital information pertaining to the Sports Hall of Fame. A two member team from Vancouver, a three member team from Calgary and an artist for Winnipeg were shortlisted to develop final proposals for submission in 2019. The final submissions for a major project for the Roundstreet Gateway were also adjudicated in August 2018 with a recommendation being presented to City Council on September 4. Council unanimously approved the project by Ontario artist Julie Jamrozik and Coryn Kempster. Their art work, which will be installed in 2019, is comprised of twenty-six multi-colour chairs of various heights
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ANNUAL REPORT
arranged in a maze like configuration. The chairs, a culturally common object, can be used interactively while representing the diversity of membership in the adjacent Cultural Centre. The week of October 8-13, 2018, Quebec artist Marc Dulude was in the City installing his work Offrande migratoire / Migratory Gift adjacent to the Nikka Yuko Gardens parking lot. The work, comprised of four bronze flying geese who are tethered to a large granite rock which they are dragging across the grass, was commissioned to honour the 50 year twin city relationship between Lethbridge and Saint Laurent Quebec. The City art program includes a Small Project Grant initiative. The program is designed to provide opportunities for local artist to execute projects with budgets up to $15,000. The City Art Committee met in April and approved three applications for 2018 projects. Garbage Party, by Arianna Richardson, was successfully executed at two sites during September. The project involved the artist constructing a highly decorative recycling station that was installed for one week in Galt Gardens and for a second week in Fort Whoop-Up Park. The project included a performative aspect with artist being present on site collecting and sorting garbage and engaging with community members during the installation. The curatorial team of Jane Edmundson and Tyler Stewart executed the first project from their multi-project proposal Into the Streets, a chalk art project featuring Eric Dyck and Carson Morton, held during the Wide Skies Festival on July 31 and August 1, 2018. Leila Armstrong’s project Backyard Wildlife which explores urban wildlife was also approved. The project is supported by research completed for Leila’s Masters in Fine Arts and will include the installation of images on Pattison billboards and the Casa Digital Gallery.
