Now that the City of St. Albert’s BMX Track mural is complete, it is focusing on a creating a mosaic for a new park in Erin Ridge North.
Element Park, St. Albert’s newest and in-progress green space, will upon completion in 2026 showcase an outdoor rink, seating space, rink shack, naturalized play features and a picnic area, said Jacilyn Blackwood, the City of St. Albert's visual arts coordinator.
Perhaps the park’s most striking feature will be a curved bouldering wall. One side will be completed as a climbing wall. The flip side will feature a mosaic public art installation.
The city put out a call for proposals this year and received more than 30 submissions from across the province. Red Knot Studio in Edmonton, specializing in whimsical handcrafted mosaic and sculptural public art, was selected to transform Element Park into a vibrant space with “a spirit of joy.”
“Their designs resonated with the space. They demonstrated experience in relation to climbing a wall. They ticked all the boxes and gave us confidence they could create something amazing for the space,” Blackwood said.
Red Knot Studio is a partnership between Erin Pankratz, an internationally acclaimed mosaic artist born in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, and Christian Peres Guibaut, originally from Buenos Aires whose mosaic murals straddle Argentina and Canada.
“They have a collaborative practice. Their work is playful and vibrant, and their skill set is quite significant. Both have a background in mosaics, but their experience is diverse, and their background is diverse. But they have created all over the world and they teach,” Blackwood said.
Pankratz studied at Alberta College of Art and Design and was awarded numerous accolades including the 2013 and 2016 Innovations in Mosaics Awards from the American Society American Mosaic Artists. Pankratz has exhibited her works with highlight exhibitions in France, Japan, Italy and the United States.
On the other hand, Guibaut is both a mosaic creator and a “lean expert.” As a lean expert he works at improving mosaic creation by minimizing waste, improving efficiency and improving quality during the mosaic production process.
The couple’s role is to create a sculptural mosaic similar to the interactive Steinhauer sculptures on the north side of St. Albert Place. Once finished, the mosaic will be hardy enough for people to climb on it.
“They have to be pretty amazing to make a mosaic sculpture. They have found a way to make mosaics that will allow people to climb on them and that’s a skill in itself.”
For Blackwood, the goal of the project is not only to showcase the landscape of Erin Ridge North.
“Our main goal is so people will utilize it. We want to encourage people to engage in public art in the community, and this gives people the opportunity to see new and different areas.”
The city is hosting two community engagement sessions where the public can meet Pankratz and Guibaut and share a story or a memory while enjoying artist-led activities. The first session takes place Saturday, Sept. 6 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Jensen Lakes Library. The second session is Saturday, Sept. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Albert Place.
Element Park is located at 39 Evermore Cr.
