In August 2019 I took some photos of graffiti murals that I didn’t understand. At first I thought it was a sentence, but I decided eventually that I was looking at a series of names. This week I noticed that all but one of those names have been painted over. The new murals are bright […]
They meant well, but sometimes meaning well does not mean well-being. I was presented this week with two contradictory images. One was of a sculpture representing the work done by Catholic nuns in Alberta. It is called Service Through Christ and is by the artist Herman Poulin. The press release from Covenant Health says: “The […]
A fascinating art work that appeared recently in Edmonton is called The Meeting by the artist Wang Shugang. It is made up of seven crouching figures in a circle. An eighth figure is placed alone across the street from The Meeting. At one time, one of these figures was holding a circular mirror but it […]
When this art installation first appeared on 118 Avenue in Edmonton, there was quite a bit of delighted chatter on the NextDoor app. The local people were both intrigued and amused. Some were a little bewildered asking “Have you seen the giant beans?” and “What are they?” and “What are they for?”. One of the […]
A new art installation has appeared less than a block from my home. It is called Walking Figures and it is by the Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. I saw a television news item about the installation and one of the comments that stood out for me was that the figures represent our shared humanity and […]
As we passed this sculpture today, I asked my son to guess what it was called. He said “Berlin,” which I thought was both funny and appropriate. It turns out, the sculpture is called Living In Between and it is the work of Agnieszka Koziarz. As we were looking at it, I read aloud the […]
Despite the fact that it was -14C (7F) and snowing today, I went to see something new. My eldest son had noticed a work of sculpture that he was intrigued by and that he thought I would enjoy. He was right. On the roof of the Edmonton Transit System’s new Kathleen Andrews Transit Garage are […]
While walking along the North Saskatchewan River valley yesterday, I was delighted to find some wonderful murals under the James MacDonald Bridge between Rossdale Park and Irene Parlby Park. The artwork is by Nomadic Alternatives.
While out and about this morning I came across a fabulous painting in an unexpected place. It was painted on a billboard in an otherwise ordinary convenience store parking lot and it took my breath away. I stood and looked at it for a long time. The image reminded me of rock formations I have […]
Some of my neighbours have a flair for three-dimensional imagery and whimsy. Here are some of the garden ornaments that have caught my eye in the last few months.
It isn’t fall yet, but I can feel it coming. The sun is lower in the sky and I am seeing the first of the autumn leaves. Yesterday in Borden Park I was able to enjoy a lovely sunny morning walk among the trees. I also took a few photos of the flowers and one […]
A recent walk took me to two parks on the south side of Edmonton, both of which include some surprisingly thoughtful details. Empire Park is at 107 Street and 47 Avenue, and it includes the building for the Sahaja Meditations Centre which has a delightful mural by Cen Yang Lanting. The grounds beside the Learning […]
Many of the murals in Legal depict people who lived heroic lives, and today I have chosen two people whose heroism has made them very significant in Canadian history. One heroic person depicted in the murals in Legal is Roméo Dallaire. He was the Force Commander for the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda in 1993 […]
The mural I am showing you today sparked my curiosity. It makes reference to the famine that affected Ireland in the 1850s. I was taught that it was called the Irish Potato Famine because a fungal infestation decimated the potato crop for about seven or eight years. This mural, however, suggests a more sinister history. […]
There are so many great murals in Legal that it is hard to pick out a few to show you. Today I have chosen the portraits of two more homesteading families. This first is of Joseph St Martin and Marthe Calage. Joseph was the stepson of Jean Calage (1848-1927) and the two men each paid […]
Following my first discovery of the town of Legal, Alberta, I decided to create a series of blog posts highlighting some of the many murals in the town and the history behind them. This is part two of that series. The mural that tells the story of George Bugnet draws attention to some of his […]
