Project: Rooted in Community

Artists: Blank Page Studio

Location: West Hillhurst Community

Year of Completion: 2023

Rooted in Community is a public art project that connects the community of people to the community of plants in their neighbourhood. The project features 36 signs located throughout the West Hillhurst Community, the installation of a new artwork at the West Hillhurst Community Association and the launch of a new online resource.

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Project: Goose Garden

Artists: Heather Morigeau

Location: Princes Island Lagoon

Year of Completion: 2023

Goose Garden is a floating fiberglass sculpture, custom painted to resemble a Canadian goose. This whimsical and larger-than-life temporary art display is located in the lagoon near the Jaipur Pedestrian Bridge at Prince's Island Park where geese raise their offspring each spring.

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Project: Lot & Found

Artists: Rawry & Pohly (Jamie Mason and Kevin Chow)

Location: Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre

Year of Completion: 2022

Lost & Found consist of three parts: a layered relief mural depicting the artist’s late grandfather teaching his sister how to cook bok choy, a 6-foot-tall sculpture of a bok choy, and a cookbook available for viewing both physically and virtually via QR code.

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Project: Sunnyside skatepark murals

Artists: Dan Bergeron, Gabriel Specter and Toner

Location: Bow to Bluff corridor along the Northwest LRT line between the Bow River and McHugh Bluff

Year of Completion: 2022

Nine vibrant murals provide color and movement to the Sunnyside skatepark and the journey from there to the Sunnyside LRT station. With a common design approach and use of vibrating colour patterns, this projects captures the infectious energy, boundless creativity and elegance of the sport of skateboarding.

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Project: A park without a name
Location: 115 4 Ave SW in the park formerly known as James Short Park.
Artist: Annie Wong

A park without a name is a pop-up public art exhibit by artist Annie Wong, on display Oct. 25-28, 2022 in the park at 115 4 Ave. S.W.

The contemporary artwork is a series of seven banners that feature quotes in English and Traditional Chinese. These quotes were heard by the artist while in conversation with members of the Chinatown community.

The art encourages Calgarians to reflect and engage in thoughtful conversations on historical racism against Chinese people in Calgary. The banners invite us to consider whose voices and history are valued when we name places and spaces. Read more

Project: The Alberta Public Art Network (APAN) 

Location: A work-from-home, research-focused opportunity.

Artists: asmaa al-issa (Mohkínstsis/Calgary), Cindy Baker (Edmonton region), Alana Bartol (Mohkínstsis/Calgary), seth cardinal dodginghorse (Tsuu’tina nation), and Faye HeavyShield (Kainai community of Standoff).

The Alberta Public Art Network (APAN) artist residency was created to give artists living in Alberta the support to further develop their practice.

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Project: Below/Before/Between
Location: 5th Street S.W. & 9th Avenue
Artists: Jill Anholt & Calgary civil engineers

The 5 Street S.W. underpass serves as a current connector between Calgary’s Bow and Elbow rivers as well as a reminder of the buried layers of this area’s ancient water-related origins from stream deposits flowing beneath glaciers to the fossilized remnants of wave actions and currents within a prehistoric inland sea. Fossilized ripple stone supplied by Rundle Rock (Kamenka) Quarry was used to create the molds for the precast concrete wall. Read more

Project: Wishing Well

Location: 950 McPherson Square N.E.

Artist(s): Louise Bertelsen and Po Shu Wang

Wishing Well was designed by renowned artist team Living Lenses (Louise Bertelsen and Po Shu Wang) of San Francisco. It is made of stainless steel and weighs 2200 kilograms. It measures 3.88 metres tall, 5.36 metres wide and 4 metres deep. Read more.

​Title: 34 community-run projects 
Artist: various local artists ** 
Location: various locations throughout Calgary
Year of Completion: 2021

View all 34 projects 

Project: Fire Hydrant Water Fountain Project
Artist: Sans façon
Year of Completion: 2021

Designed by WATERSHED+ lead artist Sans façon, the Fire Hydrant Water Fountain Project is an example of applying creative thinking and a creative process to practical problems – a means of using public art to address civic challenges and enhance our communities.

Project: Past, Present and Future banners
Location: Calgary municipal building
Artist: Kalum Teke Dan
Year of Completion: 2021

Indigenous artist, Kalum Teke Dan created art for three banners that currently hang on pillars outside Council Chamber in Calgary’s municipal building atrium. The pieces, titled Past, Present and Future aim to represent the rich history of the land on which Calgary sits and how all people are working to understand the wrongs of the past and provide a way forward for the future. Learn more.

Title: Trailing

Artists: Alia Shahab and Michel Gignac

Year of Completion: 2021

Trailing, by Alia Shahab and Michel Gignac, is an interactive sculpture that uses over a thousand tiny microcontrollers to manage individual strands of hanging fiber optic cables, each attached to their own light emitting diode and mechanically triggered by physical movement.

View project details.

Title: Calgary Chinatown artist residency

Artists: Teresa Tam, Annie Wong and Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong

Year of Completion: 2021

The Calgary Chinatown artist residency gave professional artists an opportunity to be embedded in Calgary Chinatown while The City and community stakeholders underwent significant planning for the future of the area. The artists learned about the neighbourhood’s rich history and culture as well as the current sociopolitical context through community engagement and research. This residency aimed to support contemporary art practices and facilitate conversation with the Calgary Chinatown community.

View project details 

Title: DayNight Art
Artists: Sisay Shimeles and Oksana Kryzhanivska
Location: 3375 Spruce Drive S.W.
Partner: Spruce Cliff community

DayNight Art by Calgary artists Oksana Kryzhanivska and Sisay Shimeles consists of one lit community sign and three structural wind blocking pieces at a gathering space in Calgary’s Spruce Cliff community.

Designs were conceived during multi-cultural art workshops with Spruce Cliff community members that focused on cross-cultural and traditional ways of art making. With the goal of uniting multicultural artists and building stronger community ties that would highlight Spruce Cliff’s identity, participants produced paintings which were incorporated into the final art pieces. The workshops allowed residents to make a permanent mark in the Spruce Cliff community while celebrating and bringing together different cultural perspectives.

Windshields

The windshields celebrate nature and represent Ethiopian and Ukrainian cultural symbolism in the form of coffee bean and egg shapes. These iconic references from the artists’ cultural backgrounds frame transparent collages of the artists work and community members’ paintings. Viewers are encouraged to stand at different places in the area and witness the half shapes becoming full.

Spruce Cliff community sign

The Spruce Cliff community sign aims to evoke a sense of community pride. In addition to incorporating community member’s paintings, the artists lent their culturally inspired imagery to this work. During the day, the piece shows a bright and diverse collage. At night, the backlit artwork gives nod to connectedness through cultural identity.

Artist: Cassie Suche

Title: Rise and Reflect

Year: 2021

Medium: Corten Steel

Location: North side of 17 Avenue S.E. at Barlow Trail/26 Street S.E. (artwork is located on the Blvd.)

Rise and Reflect is an abstract expression of the dynamic nature of the International Avenue area. The work arose through conversations with community members about their personal rituals and the impactful moments in their lives. These stories inspired the artist to create a work referencing expansion and growth. The sculpture suggests these ideas using a linear and geometric visual language, intended to be openly interpreted by viewers as they engage with the work through the lens of their own experiences. The sculpture is cut from a single sheet of steel and rolled into its current form. With time, a patina will form on the surface of the work reflecting the outdoor elements of the surrounding area. Steel fabrication completed by Mercedes + Singh.

Learn more about the public art featured on International Avenue.

Artist: Vahe Tokmajyan - Lead artist 

Title: Dance

Year: 2021

Medium: Stained glass mosaic

Location: South side of 17 Avenue S.E. between 30 Street S.E. and 31 Street S.E. (3111 International Avenue, in front of the Nyla beauty supplies building )

Vahe Tokmajyan - Lead artist in collaboration with Janey Luc-German, Juan Carlos Urria, Lovelia Vera, Maria Loaiza, Zoong Nguyên.

Dance is at the core of many cultures and is as old as the history of humanity. Vahe and his multidisciplinary team of artists have partnered to develop an art piece that celebrates dance as a common form of social expression across all cultures. The sculptural composition represents a partner dance in which their intertwined movements showcase the engagement of mind and body and reflect the joy of dance. Here the dancers align their movements and gestures to the rhythm of the music and create an interconnected performance that tells a story.

Learn more about the public art featured on International Avenue.

Artist: Adrian Stimson

Title: Kawa’pomahkaiks – Animals That Roam the Prairie

Year: 2020

Medium: Laser-cut steel

Location:: Within the planter on the SE corner of the intersection of 17^th Ave SE, and 33^rd Street SE.

This installation titled Kawa’pomahkaiks – Animals That Roam the Prairie pays homage to the animals that once inhabited, and some that still inhabit, the plains now known as Calgary and International Avenue. Artist inspiration came from engagement sessions with people in the community, specifically the local area children who drew sketches of animals. Laser-cut steel silhouettes of a pronghorn antelope, coyote, badger, prairie dog, beaver, prairie hare, black footed ferret, swift fox and burrowing owl are placed within the planter on 17 Avenue S.E. to playfully interact with people as they take a seat or wander by. Visitors are encouraged to learn the names of the animals and the Siksiká (Blackfoot) pronunciations.

Learn more about the public art featured on International Avenue.

Artist: Mia & Eric

Title: Pick, Pluck, Perch

Year: 2020

Medium: Ussurian pear (golden spice) tree, gold leaf, various shrubs and herbs, field granite boulders, mulch, reclaimed bricks, reclaimed sign post, reclaimed planter box.

Location: Corner of 34th Street and the parking lane off of 17th Avenue SE in front of Southview Motors.

This temporary public art work is centred around a gold gilded pear tree that is underplanted with companion plants and edible herbs and berries. As the tree grows, the gold will stretch, crack, and fall away. Over time the art will breakdown and the community will be left with a mature pear tree, berries, oregano, and thyme that residents are encouraged to harvest. As the plants mature new habitats will be created for insects, birds and others. Complimenting the vegetation are granite boulders as seating and a path made of reclaimed bricks that leads residents between the tree and the repurposed planter box.

During their time exploring International Avenue and the Greater Forest Lawn area, Mia and Eric  were struck by the diversity and richness of the foods and flavours found along the Avenue, as well as the multitude of social services, community groups and support networks in this neighbourhood. Their concept builds upon the work already being done by organizations such as The Alex, The Greater Forest Lawn 55+ Society and Antyx Community Arts to create a small social space for people to enjoy on International Avenue.

Learn more about the public art featured on International Avenue.

Artist: Mary Haasdyk

Title: A Beautiful Day

Year: 2020

Medium: Digital prints on alupanel

Location: City building - 3810 17 Ave SE

A Beautiful Day draws inspiration from the eclectic and diverse nature of International Avenue, reimagining its personality and character through a series of personified portraits of the Avenue. It incorporates elements of things found here, and becomes an interesting whole made up of unexpected parts. It is playful and fun and invites the viewer to engage their imagination, looking at the familiar from a fresh point of view.

Learn more about the public art featured on International Avenue.

​Title:The Wandering Island
Artist: Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett
Location: Elbow Island Park
Year of Completion: 2020
View Project details

Title: DAGUMISISTIY WUSA TLOK’A YASDAL
Translation: Everybody perserve walking together into the future
Artists: Aj Starlight (lead artist), AJA Louden (guest artist), and students
Location: Tsuut’ina Nation
Year of Completion: 2019

This project was part of the Street Art Program for Youth. From 2016 to 2019, this program offered hands on experience to young Calgarians interested in street art. Led by professional street artists and mentors, youth who participated in this program designed, developed and installed large-scale street art murals in our city that they’re proud to call their own. Watch video to learn more.

Title: Our Window
Artist: AJA Louden (lead artist) and students
Location: 1009 7 Avenue SW, East Wall, Downtown Calgary Mosque
Year of Completion: 2018

This project was part of the Street Art Program for Youth. From 2016 to 2019, this program offered hands on experience to young Calgarians interested in street art. Led by professional street artists and mentors, youth who participated in this program designed, developed and installed large-scale street art murals in our city that they’re proud to call their own.

Title: Views
Artist: AJA Louden (lead artist) and students
Location: Tunnel in Confederation Park, the 10th Street N.W. tunnel
Year of Completion: 2017

This project was part of the Street Art Program for Youth. From 2016 to 2019, this program offered hands on experience to young Calgarians interested in street art. Led by professional street artists and mentors, youth who participated in this program designed, developed and installed large-scale street art murals in our city that they’re proud to call their own. Project details

Title: Are You Going, You Are Here
Artist: Dan Bergeron and AJA Louden (lead artists) and students
Location: 61 Avenue S.W. corridor between Chinook Centre and Chinook CTrain station
Year of Completion: 2016

This project was part of the Street Art Program for Youth. From 2016 to 2019, this program offered hands on experience to young Calgarians interested in street art. Led by professional street artists and mentors, youth who participated in this program designed, developed and installed large-scale street art murals in our city that they’re proud to call their own.

Title: TransitStory
Artist: Jill Anholt
Location: 45 Street CTrain Station (17 Avenue and 45 Street S.W.) coming in late 2023/early 2024
Year of Completion: 2012
Project details

Title: Stories of Ranchlands
Artist: Alison Katzko
Project: Website and a fence mural
Location: Ranchlands
Partner: Ranchlands community

Stories of Ranchlands explored links between words, art and community. Shared stories are the vital thread in communities. People of all ages were able to share and build their stories. Their identity and connections shine through as art experiences. The program gathered a collection of images, words, poems and memories. Those stories are shared on a website and a fence mural. The mural is located at a location that represents those stories. This art project was developed by Alison Katzko. Alison has been an artist and teacher for 21 years. For 11 of those years, she has been a resident of the Ranchlands community. Alison is a firm believer in the power of a good story. She values shared community experiences. This project was part of the Artists Working in Community course which provided professional development for artists interested in pursuing public art projects with a community focus.

Location: Ogden/Millican
Title: Connecting Histories
Artist: Oksana Kryzhanivska
Project: Casr stone sculptures
Partner: Ogden/Millican community

Connecting Histories was a temporary project exploring the rich public history of Ogden/Millican. The series of cast stone sculptures was the result of the Artists Working in Community course which provided professional development for artists interested in pursuing public art projects with a community focus. 

Project: Sheldon M. Chumir Window displays​​
Artists: Carlos Arriojas, Andrew Olivier, Isabel Porto, Sylvia Arthur, Sean Taal & Catherine Spencer, Juliana Morar, Jenna Swift
​Location: 1213 4 St SW.
Partner: Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre

In 2016, seven artists were selected to create a display artwork within the street-level display windows of the community partner organization Sheldon M. Chumir Centre. This project was part of the Artists Working in Community course which provided professional development for artists interested in pursuing public art projects with a community focus.

Health centre staff and passersby provided inspiration, information and feedback. Learn more.​

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Title: Marquee​​
Artists: Lane Shordee and Joanne MacDonald (Soul Tonic Studio)
​Location: 12001 44 Street SE., on the front lawn area of the CPAA building.
Partner: Cerebral Palsy Association in Alberta

A 16-foot circular deck made out of wood where the members can assemble for activities and future programming like gardening, art workshops, music and other kinesthetic exercises. The deck has a pathway and ramp access for wheelchairs and a floating bench for seating that is supported by 4-inch steel pipes. The steel pipes contain plants that attract butterflies, which is a symbol of the CPAA. Learn more.

This project was part of the Artists Working in Community course which provided professional development for artists interested in pursuing public art projects with a community focus.

Photo​ courtesy Lane Shordee.

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Project: Green Footprints Project​
Location: 223 12th Ave. S.W. within the “Old Y’ building
Artists: Patricia Lortie, Bill, and Rasha Amen
Partner: CommunityWise Resource Centre

The Green Foot​prints Project aims to highlight the diversity and connections between users of the “Old Y” building on 12th Ave., and their relationship to this special building and its community. This project was part of the Artists Working in Community course which provided professional development for artists interested in pursuing public art projects with a community focus. Learn more.