The City Approached the Board
The city of Calgary Neighborhood Partnership Coordinator approached the CMCA board with an offer from the city to beautify the neighborhood trash cans with public art. Two programs were available: one involving a public artist on the City roster, and another which opened the project up to submissions from the wider community.
Needless to say, we were thrilled to engage with the City, and the process of selecting artists, participating in their community engagement activities and reviewing their proposals was enlightening, as none of us on the board had been involved in a public art project before. Working with the artists and seeing their resulting visions of our community was a proud moment.
Artist Engagement
Sisay spoke to community association members and door knocked, while Sharon used Facebook to organise pop-up engagement sessions where she took opinions and thoughts from community members, and provided art supplies that they used to create pieces to be used in the final design.
Both artists submitted their designs for review, which were both enthusiastically accepted!
Concept art from Sisay Shimeles
Concept image from local artist Sharon Fortowsky
Mockup of the vinyl wraps as they will be applied to the bins
Application
There were two methods to apply the artwork: Sisay Shimeles painted directly onto the bins.
And Sharon Fortowsky worked with the City to create vinyl wraps that were applied to the bins.
End Result
The end results speak for themselves.
The CMCA board would like to thank Joan Barnett, from the City of Calgary, and the artists Sisay Shimeles and Sharon Fortowsky for such a wonderful experience.
Please join us for the official unveiling!
- Saturday, November 5 at 10 AM – 2 PM
- Canyon Meadows Commnuity Hall, 844-848 Cantabrian Dr. S.W.
- Check out our Facebook event
