If anyone asks where the heart of St. Albert is, the answer is right there on the wall.
The Heart of Our Community was unveiled Monday during a special ceremony at St. Albert Centre. The large mixed-media mural on multiple birch panels was created over the last two months by about 50 students from both Paul Kane and Bellerose high schools.
"It's huge," said Judy Smallwood, the art teacher from Bellerose who co-ordinated that school's team of artists. She wasn't referring to the immensity of the work itself but rather how important it was for the students to have creative control. "We basically gave them the concepts and they came up with it. It wasn't us feeding them. It's their creativity."
Her Paul Kane counterpart, Colleen Hewitt added that all of the students knew this was a special extracurricular assignment, one that would not interfere with their regular studies and school obligations.
"They really got a sense of this being a serious business."
For the students, it was a great lesson in the dedication it takes to create something meaningful. Rebecca Mount, a Grade 12 student at Bellerose, said that she continued to work on her section even through that school's recent 48-hour Bike-a-thon.
"I was glad to make my mark on St. Albert because I love it so much."
Behind the scenes
The project was sponsored with $20,000 from St. Albert Centre owners and management company Ivanhoe Cambridge. It is their contribution to the ongoing citywide celebration of our 150th anniversary.
The piece is the newest addition to the city's art in public places program, managed by Heidi Alther, the city's visual arts co-ordinator. During the opening ceremony, she explained why this initiative is so significant.
"Many people are involved in public art. It is definitely a community effort. It continues to bring us together as citizens of St. Albert and the world," she said. "Artists and communities work together to illuminate many different ideas and goals."
"We can all be students of public art. Artists are often literally teachers as well," she said, calling the students "professionals."
Mural at a glance
The six large 1.2-metre by 1.5-metre panels show a sample of St. Albert's icons, starting with an upward shot of the Father Lacombe statue. There's the grain elevator, train trestle bridge, the Perron Street clock tower and Little White School.
The mural was intended to showcase St. Albert Centre as the heart of the community. A banner that runs across the bottom of the piece shows different photographic images from the shopping mall's 30-year history.
On top of the panels are more than 100 clay figurines. These characters remain otherwise anonymous, lacking faces or any identity except for their clothes and shopping bags with logos of the mall's stores.
According to Paul Kane's website, it is "a miniature parade … marching through time and culture, wearing costumes depicting the past and present, carrying parcels that reflect the time and the merchants at St. Albert Centre."
The viewer is left to muse on the meaning of the piece, whether it reflects how consumerism helped shaped our history or a commentary on the lost self in a materialist society. Is it documentary realism or surrealism like Magritte's Son of Man?
It is displayed along the long wall that extends in the connecting hallway between Winners and the food court.
More youth art
The Protestant school district art show is on now with works from students of all schools and grades. That is on display in the lobby of St. Albert Place and will stay up until April 3.
In May, all four St. Albert high schools will once again collaborate for their annual High Energy show at the Art Gallery of St. Albert.
