#104street

[jacksoncrabb]

Street Lights #yeg #christmas #rogersplace #104street (at ICE District) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrvvXY2AbLe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jobrf6s4bbea

[jacksoncrabb]

Garage #vacancy #openlot #available #YEG #parkade #garage #alberta #distracted #walking #downtown #104street #concrete #architecture #jacksoncrabb #yellow #column (at Edmonton, Alberta)

[yegarts]

A Flock of Stories - Amiskwaciw Wâskâyhkan Ihtâwin

Swooping over a misty boreal forest, a band of Bohemian Waxwings beckons the coffee addicts, farmers’ market enthusiasts, dog walkers, office workers, housed and unhoused Edmontonians, and visitors to wander through the Michael Phair pocket park and into Amiskwaciw Wâskâyhkan Ihtâwin – Beaver Hills House Park. The birds carry stories celebrating journeys, connections to the land, and history.

The installation is by Canadian Métis artist Destiny Swiderski, whose alluring public artworks use everyday manufactured materials to create unique visual effects (or should we say experiences). Objects include drinking straws and casino dice, or in the case of Milled Woods, her creation for the Mill Woods Multicultural and Senior Centre, lumber off-cuts.

That artwork employs more than 8,000 stained and natural spruce blocks to evoke the long-vanished forested trails that once dominated the Mill Woods area. The arrangement of the blocks produces a “pixelated” effect that appears completely different when viewed with the naked eye vs through a camera lens. It also produces calming audio pockets that change the acoustical quality of the room.

Like Amiskwaciw Wâskâyhkan Ihtâwin, this artwork is deeply influenced by a process that is extracted from the landscape and connects to the deep-rooted history that resides in that particular place. In addition to these captured elements, Destiny’s artworks also encompass architectural elements inspired by her studies at architectural school.

Shortly after creating her first public artwork in Edmonton – a gigantic dreamcatcher for 2012’s urban transitory public art intervention Dirt City:Dream City, in the Quarters Downtown, Destiny received the commission to create Amiskwaciw Wâskâyhkan Ihtâwin. The project met a few funding bumps along the way, and she focussed on other projects, but good news came last summer, says Destiny.

“Just as Mill Woods was finishing, we got the funding for Beaver Hills. In the interim, prices on steel had skyrocketed and labour costs rose so I pretty well had to throw everything I’d done out the window and reanalyze within the allocated budget. I knew I still wanted to use the birds, though.”

The birds are Bohemian Waxwings, thousands of which visit Edmonton each year and voraciously raid our Mountain Ash trees. “I would come to Edmonton in the spring and always see them in Mill Creek Ravine. I think they capture the essence of Edmonton and they really move me.”

As Destiny moved forward with her new concept, she realized the necessity of solid community engagement in order ensure the mural’s relevance and authenticity. The birds, she says, are the pivot, representing the people living in this place – the patterning on their wings conveying stories.

To gather the patterns and stories, she facilitated three community workshops; a private one with youth at iHuman and two public events at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre and Drawing Room, attracted participants of all ages and skills.

“I gave no direction – just asked everyone to tell me their story in symbols or text or patterns, whatever they wanted, but from the heart. I learned that it’s really about highlighting the process not the finished piece. One woman, a city employee came up with the most intricate bird. When I asked if she is an artist, she said she just loves to draw on her own time – it took a day and a half to retrace her bird into AutoCAD. Remarkable.”

The text on the wall – Cree syllabics, Cree language in the roman alphabet, and English add a final layer of meaning. “That hierarchy, with the syllabics at the top is so important. I really wanted to highlight the Indigenous roots that are so important to the park.”

The words and birds flow over a painted background of lodgepole pines and sky. Painted by celebrated Edmonton muralist and spray paint artist AJA Louden, the imagery further evokes the boreal forest, and the river valley that meanders through Edmonton. A place of gathering and celebration for millennia, the North Saskatchewan River Valley is the heart of this place - a repository of history, spirituality, and stories.

That legacy follows through into the heart of Destiny’s creation - “This artwork is the story of the people; a gateway to the place, a place of pride, a place where we hear voices.”

[yegfoodie]

#Repost @blackpearlyeg ・・・ It's Thursday 1/2 price taco night @blackpearlyeg and $10 Caesars black pearl style !!! #yegfood #madeinyeg #yegfoodie #104street #yegseafood