$500,000 highway art draws sharp criticism

This art piece also aligns with Blackfoot symbolism, according to Iley. The four sentinels represent the four seasons, four directions, four elements and four stages of life.

The artists commissioned by the city to create these installations are duo Del Geist and Patricia Leighton from New York.

Blackfoot artist Kalum Teke Dan said what Geist is trying to portray with the four elements didn’t come across to him.

“Maybe if he consulted a (Blackfoot) tribe before he did it because really, I bet if you got a bunch of Blackfoot elders to look at it, they’re not going to understand it,” said Teke Dan.

Chu also disagrees with the choice to use a non-Indigenous artist for a piece that includes Blackfoot symbolism. “If that’s the case, get a Blackfoot or Treaty 7 native to be the artist,” said Chu.

“Connection is the key. I think it’s an excuse to make it more palatable. ‘Oh, it’s native related, so we’re just supposed to take it.’ ”

There was an open competition among artists, instead of specifically choosing a Calgary-based one because of international trade agreements, said Iley.

“We want our artists here to have the same opportunity to compete for jobs elsewhere as others do to compete for jobs here,” said Iley.

“The selection panel is made up of members of the community (who) decided this was the most interesting approach they could see.”

The second part which is yet to be installed is drumlins, ovalshaped mounds of earth that are left behind when glaciers recede. However, these ones will be manmade and located on the opposite side of the highway from the Towers, which drivers will pass by as they leave the city.

The artwork is scheduled to be fully completed by the end of October. Geist did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

GAVIN YOUNG Sarah Iley, the city’s manager of arts and culture, says rocks suspended in the steel beams show water ripples from “the lake that was here 227 million years ago.” But critics say the publicly funded art piece adorning the interchange on the...

GAVIN YOUNG The $500,000 price tag on the Bowfort Towers that can be seen from the Trans-Canada Highway has ruffled some feathers at city hall. The four “sentinels” were created to act as a gateway to the city, but Coun. Sean Chu says the money would have been...