Community collaborates for large-scale art project
Winter-themed installation takes over 50/50 lot
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, October 7, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A group of artists and community members are hoping a temporary wooden art installation they designed will help people enjoy the city a little more as temperatures begin to cool.
Brad Pickard, left, Mary Kelly and Dan Korver sit on the YK ARCC design project constructed at a residence on Trails End on Wednesday. The project was installed at the 50/50 lot yesterday. - Kirsten Fenn/NNSL photo |
"There's quite a lot of people activating the downtown in the summertime, especially with Somba K'e Park but once it gets cold there's not much public space to linger in and enjoy in the downtown," said Yellowknife Artist Run Community Centre (ARCC) co-ordinator Mary Kelly, whose organization unveiled the design at the 50/50 lot on Thursday evening.
"That's why we targeted the winter theme," she said.
Shaped something like a cube, the installation is made of 40 locally-sourced jack pine logs from Behchoko, and stands three metres tall and three metres wide.
Residents have been coming to a house on Trails End all week to help sand the logs and piece them together into something the community can sit on, hang out at and enjoy in the 50/50 lot.
It's the final product of ARCC's annual This City project. Each year the organization puts out a national call for artists to come to Yellowknife for a two-week residency and lead community members in the collaborative creation of a piece of public art.
This year, ARCC chose Regina architect Brad Pickard and local architect Dan Korver, who have worked on similar design projects in Kinistin Saulteaux Nation and Flying Dust First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Pickard, who founded a design collaborative called OPEN which works on public projects that bridge architecture, design and art, said the ARCC installation seemed like a good fit for him and Korver.
The two have been guiding community members through a series of workshops since Sept. 25 to brainstorm ideas for what the piece of public art should look like and where it should be located.
"Then we had a design session where we were actually drawing and modeling things," Pickard said. "That was a lot of fun."
The idea was consensus building, rather than one person directing the project, he said.
"Using the process we did, where we engaged with anybody in the community who was interested was kind of an interesting way to design something," Korver said.
The materials used for the installation are also meant to reflect the winter experience in Yellowknife.
"This is kind of the time of year where everyone is collecting firewood, stacking firewood, preparing for the winter," Korver said. "So that's one of the things that drove the project."
Kelly said the installation could remain in place for about two weeks.
The project was funded by the city and the Government of the Northwest Territories' Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (SEED) program.
ARCC's This City project started in 2012 as a way to liven up spaces downtown through collaborative art.
Previous installations have included music, lighting and seating at the 50/50 lot, a public art piece in Somba K'e Park designed by artists from Whitehorse, wooden furniture and workshops on graffiti art, Kelly said.
"Each year it's (about) remembering that same vision for an art space and more art opportunities and art engagement in the downtown," she said. "It keeps the conversation active and continues to give us an idea of what's possible."
