International Avenue Public Art
Public art International Avenue
This project provides small-budget opportunities for 11 local artists at different stages in their careers. Five artworks were installed in 2020 and 2021. Take a stroll down 17 Avenue S.E. and see how many you can spot.
The project
We worked with the International Avenue BRZ to install artworks along International Avenue. Eleven local artists were hired to design, fabricate, and install five site-specific artworks for 17 Avenue S.E.
The International Avenue public art project provided small-budget opportunities for artists at different stages in their careers. The art contributes to the vibrancy and development of Greater Forest Lawn and reflects the stories of Calgarians who live, work and explore the area.
Each artist has a connection to the area, and they shared a desire to work closely with the surrounding communities.
Budget
Two established artists/teams were selected. Each of those projects has a total budget of $45,500. Three emerging artists/teams each have a $25,000 budget. Public art budgets always include concept development, fabrication, installation and artist fee. The artist fee is typically 10-20% of the total budget.
Community engagement
We worked closely with the International Avenue BRZ. They were critical in identifying opportunities for this investment in art. The BRZ connected artists with local businesses, arts organizations, and public stakeholders.
Community engagement sessions were held in July and August of 2019. Communities around International Avenue helped choose suitable locations for art installations.
In order to learn from the collective stories, histories and experiences of the people who call this area home, artists spent January and February of 2020 doing research and engaging extensively with surrounding communities in order to inform their artistic concepts.
In addition, each artist team also participated in more targeted engagement with specific community groups, such as the 55+ society, one-on-one visits with businesses along International Avenue and with the BRZ, and school engagements with children and youth.
Five art projects by 11 local artists boost vibrancy on International Avenue
Art locations
Click on the 'show caption' tab within the gallery to view artist details.
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.
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 17th Ave SE, and 33rd 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.
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.
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.
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.
Established artists
Adrian Stimson
Adrian Stimson is a member of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Nation in southern Alberta. He is an interdisciplinary artist and exhibits nationally and internationally. His performance art looks at identity construction, specifically the hybridization of the Indian, the cowboy, the shaman and Two Spirit being. His paintings are varied yet his use of black and white monochromatic paintings that depict bison in imagined landscapes are well known. His installation work primarily examines the residential school experience.
Vahe Tokmajyan
Vahe Tokmajyan is an internationally known sculptor who calls Calgary home. He has over 30 years of experience in professional sculpture with an extensive portfolio of outdoor artworks installed in many countries of the world. Vahe has incorporated his experience as a practicing artist into his teaching approach. With an MFA specializing in Drawing and Sculpture, Vahe has a broad experience in adult teaching with the focus on hands on practice. He is a recipient of the Art and Culture Award at the 2007 Calgary Immigrants of Distinction Award. Vahe was the artistic consultant for the “Cultural intersection” exhibition, the first Multicultural exhibition in Calgary organized by the Calgary Multicultural Centre in 2009.
Janey Luc-German (Working under the guidance of Vahe Tokmajyan)
Life is challenging and valuable. Experiencing social changes from capitalism to communism in Vietnam, now I live in a democratic society in Canada. This has matured me with knowledge to adventure life with wisdom. Art is within my soul. By participating, I gain valuable experience and confident that one cannot achieve in academics. Helping others to create, shape self discovery and gain confidence are my goal.
Juan Carlos Urria (Working under the guidance of Vahe Tokmajyan)
Juan Carlos Urria is a Cuban-born Canadian artist whose style encompasses a wide spectrum of forms, ranging from the figurative to abstraction. He graduated as a Visual Artist from the Roberto Diago professional Art School in 2000. His current artwork explores a variety of material and mixed media inviting viewers to move into a figurative space where color and forms converge together as one idea. In 2017 the Jubilee Auditorium displayed his latest artwork as a single artist event entitled “Metaphors”.
Lovelia Vera (Working under the guidance of Vahe Tokmajyan)
Lovelia Vera is an experienced and creative Venezuelan-Canadian Artist who specializes in original ideas, theories, and interpretations using various artistic mediums. Inspired by Picasso, Dali, Bouguereau, Leger and influenced from real life experiences in Canada, Venezuela, India, and USA, she learnt to express her feelings through canvas and found art to be her creative calling in 1984. Lovelia’s artworks have been proudly displayed in various art exhibitions around the world and in private collections in addition her artwork has been included in various publications.
Zoong Nguyên (Working under the guidance of Vahe Tokmajyan)
The image of ‘starving artist’ never appeals to my parents, who come to Canada from war torn Vietnam, which makes them discourage that I study fine art. But my love for colors and painting never surrenders. My style and interests evolve over the years, from realistic still life to impressionistic landscape and figures. What attracts me to painting is all the colors that the human eyes can see. It’s something about how the natural light lands on the subject and then it dances there till the sun goes down to rest. I am easily mesmerized with the world around me every day, how mundane it may seem, I feel that I can make it sing on a flat surface with paint.
Maria Loaiza (Working under the guidance of Vahe Tokmajyan)
Maria Loaiza was born and spent her first 23 years in the central region of Colombia near the Andes in the city of Manizales. Starting art classes at 10 years of age and having not yet stopped, she enjoys the social aspects and spirit of creation with other artists of all experiences and background. Without any boundaries, expressing herself through art is the ultimate freedom and vitality. Sharing her creative energies and enthusiasm is a passion that has led her to teach art classes to both children and has given rise to a future goal of practicing art therapy. Her works have been exhibited in Florida, North Carolina, Ontario and Calgary.
Emerging artists
Mary Haasdyk (Working under the guidance of Sharon Stevens)
Working under the guidance of well-known Calgary artist, Sharon Stevens
Mary Haasdyk is a Calgary-based illustrator who works in editorial, publishing and public art. She brings a fresh perspective with her emotive and playful illustrations and enjoys opportunities to celebrate our city through public art. Her work has been recognized by Spectrum Fantastic Arts, American Illustration and Applied Arts, and she works with a diverse array of clients including corporate, non-profit, film, and various magazines and publishers.
Eric Moschopedis and Mia Rushton (Working under the guidance of Sharon Stevens)
Working under the guidance of well-known Calgary artist, Sharon Stevens
Mia Rushton and Eric Moschopedis are award winning interdisciplinary visual artists, facilitators, and community organizers. We bring together elements of craft, performance, and cultural geography to create site-specific and socially-engaged works. Thematically our practice deals with urban and rural ecologies, social relationships, and place-based knowledge production. Throughout the last eleven years we have developed a practice that operates in both a gallery and public context. Our projects, workshops, research, artist talks, and lectures have been presented in formal and DIY festivals, galleries, residencies, and postsecondary institutions throughout North America and in Europe.
Cassie Suche (Working under the guidance of Sharon Stevens)
Working under the guidance of well-known Calgary artist, Sharon Stevens
Cassie Suche is a Calgary-based multidisciplinary designer whose studio practice explores repetition and pattern through experimental process. She generates abstract narratives using a visual language of modular and linear forms, exploring the intersections of nature, technology and the sublime. Distinguishable for an intuitive balance of organic and mathematic elements, her work often displays literal evidence of her chosen process. Suche is a graduate from Leeds College of Art in Yorkshire, England and has exhibited work across Canada, the United States and Europe.