TEAM SPIRIT
A look at monumental art celebrating Oilers greats
Was a time, before the Talus Dome, John Weaver’s bronze Gretzky statue was the best-known public art in Edmonton.
Standing outside the House that Wayne Built, the Stanley Cuphoisting figure was what you’d call a destination, a memorial to hardfought ice battles so many of us can never forget — the ingredients of shared identity.
As a marker of a specific time and place, Weaver’s Gretzky mattered a lot.
Along with sentimental locals, tourists from Guelph to Moscow would visit him up on his pedestal — some would even scatter family ashes there, right outside the Coliseum where it all went down.
For reasons I can’t quite explain, I detoured my first date with my now-wife there: it’s like I wanted them to meet or something. Ridiculous — but emotions are ridiculous, right? So is symbolism, which is what this article’s about.
The Weaver statue, of course, belongs to the Oilers. So when Oilers Entertainment Group plucked it from its original home where Gretzky did so much of his key work like some old tooth, plopping it onto the sidewalk outside Rogers Place, they had every legal and technical right.
Yet, I still wondered about the moral and philosophical implications of removing the statue when something new could’ve been built for mere pocket change to this organization.
Can one transplant a thing so meaningful, legitimately borrow its cred, just like that? When decisions like this happen, does what’s “ours” become what’s “theirs,” up on high, without a word? These are posed as questions for a reason; they’re subjective, personal.
No longer on his tall pedestal, the old bronze is now a little lost in the LED lights and commercial noise, looking like a casino valet from across 104 Avenue. Throwing a new jersey onto it Tuesday seemed almost an admission of this, yet it might make him disappear into the uniformed crowd even more.
And all power to Gretzky’s executive position in OEG, but even this role twists the meaning of the statue, a little like a Plexiglas Colonel Sanders greeting customers outside the franchise with a smile.
Just as I was overthinking this the other day, a busload of tourists pulled up and started clamouring and selfie-ing in front of our frozen-in-Carbonite Wayne. When the team recently secured a playoff spot, fans lined up to take photos with the artwork, too.
OK, fine. You guys win. He’s still ours, and — like so many — I do still care.
But all this got me thinking about all the Oilers art from the “before time” we have scattered around town. For me, the statue was the hard one to talk about; the rest, easy.
What follows are a small sample to remember as the fever is on us again, as we hope for new monuments someday.
Fade-a-Wayne — 7818 118 Ave. Keith Amerey’s simple, rear-view Wayne Gretzky is so faded, rundown and bone-dry it looks like a screenshot from Fallout 4 — but it’s easily one of my favourites, a landmark of many a walk home from the Coliseum. Looking the most like a ruin from some bygone era, it reminds us of the immortal underdog status both of the team and of the city, the beauty of effort — no matter how hopeless seeming.
The Coliseum Steak & Pizza boys — 8015 118 Ave.
Taken from their first Stanley Cup victory in 1984, Paul Coffey, Gretz and Dave Lumley celebrate on the wall of where the team reportedly used to wolf down food all the time. Delightfully Medieval-folkarty, being inside this is one of the better-persevered murals from the team’s heyday, best enjoyed with the maximum amount of garlic toast possible, trust me.
Tag Kim’s Magnificent Seven — 8731 118 Ave.
Nolan Drugs has probably the technically best-conceived and painted Oilers mural in the city, down to the screaming fans in the background. Kim, who has painted many government dignitaries and polar bears in his time, collaged a memorable slice of history here with, left to right, Glenn Anderson, Gretzky, Kevin Lowe, Grant Fuhr, Coffey and Jari Kurri — the most inclusive largescale look back.
The United Cycle museum — 7620 Gateway Blvd
More of Kim’s mural handiwork here. This outdoor gallery includes an original Mark Messier fading on the side of the Old Strathcona Antique Mall, and exactly the same painting on the bike store across the parking lot to the south — yet a copy, less aged! Look up, way up, and there’s also an isolated icon of Gretzky in the sky. And, of course, this is where the giant Stanley Cup sits, wheelchair accessible. As a bonus, inside the antique mall, booth A196: a photo of topless Wayne Gretzky in orange Adidas shorts on the ice! Brrrr!
Ian Mulder’s Joey Moss — 7016 99 St. Maybe the greatest of all of these paintings, Mulder’s giant tribute to local legend Joey Moss adorns the side of Russel Metals. He’s waving from the seats at the stadium and wearing green and gold, but in the background? The Coliseum. Which brings us back to …
The Pedestal — Northlands Coliseum, east side
Sometimes public art can be accidental and unofficial. The fact Northlands kept the pedestal where Weaver’s Gretzky stood since 1989 is kind of funny and unintentionally meaningful. There’s something of a tombstone about it. Even without Gretzky, it’s now a monument to a statue that used to stand there, something that mattered. But get near it, you’re tempted to hop up and stick your hands in the air. Sure, they pulled him out — but he echoes still.