Rocks, poles a towering controversy
Calgary council mulls change to public art policy
Bowfort Towers, a $500,000 installation of rocks and four rusted “sentinels” next to the Trans-Canada Highway in Calgary, attracted controversy from Day 1.
“This actually burns me,” said Coun. Sean Chu, early last month. “There are thousands of people losing jobs and you’re doing this? There’s got to be better timing.”
After the cost controversy came the choice of artist: New York’s Del Geist.
“This is why Calgarians are finding this even more offensive,” said Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart. “In tough economic times, when our artists are starving and trying to make ends meet, we’re tendering and granting these projects to people that don’t even live in the city or the province or the country.”
And then there was the shape and symbolism: Was it supposed to represent a Native American burial ground?
“We’re talking about all of southern Alberta being offended by this,” Michelle Robinson, who is Indigenous and is running for council, told the Calgary Herald last month. “I think there’s going to be calls for this to be taken down because it’s too close to Indian burial sites that are Blackfoot traditional sites.”
Now Bowfort Towers has put into question Calgary’s controversial arts policy. Mayor Naheed Nenshi has put out a statement to clarify that the artwork was never meant to be Indigenous.
A joint statement by Nenshi and seven chiefs in southern Alberta says the request for proposal on the artwork didn’t ask for the art to incorporate Indigenous themes, but that the city asked Geist to seek advice of a Treaty 7 traditional knowledge-keeper late in the design process.
It says when the art was unveiled, the city “may have left the impression” that the sculpture was Indigenous or Indigenous-inspired.
The statement says Geist has been building similar sculptures around the world
for decades, and that the traditional knowledge- keeper did not identify Bowfort Towers as burial scaffolding when the design was reviewed.
“We therefore acknowledge that the city attempted to be respectful, but that there was a misunderstanding that has led to much discussion, debate and hard feelings,” said the statement, which was released Thursday. “In this time of reconciliation, we believe that it is important to acknowledge what doesn’t work and to move forward with a better way, being always respectful of one another.”
Nenshi said earlier this month the city’s public art
policy needs to change, but he also called criticism of the sculpture unfair and compared it to a “lynch mob.”
Currently, all public art is chosen by a panel of seven members six of whom are civilian volunteers.
The statement says that for several months the public art program has been training artists on how to submit bids, and that the city has set up a committee to explore ways to share more Indigenous art.
“We hope that the difficult debate over this piece will strengthen our resolve on creating a more inclusive community for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike,” said the statement.
The joint statement came
after Coun. Shane Keating announced Wednesday he was putting forth a motion with councillors Chu, ColleyUrquhart, Andre Chabot, Joe Magliocca, Peter Demong, Ward Sutherland, Ray Jones and Nenshi to freeze the public art policy until further notice so they could look at possible changes.
Keating said the intended freeze would not cancel the art policy, nor stop the collection of funds for public art, but it would halt any engagement and contract signing until council re-addressed the public art policy.
“I think we need to move away from the concept the artist gets to decide what it looks like,” said Keating. “The
taxpayers are actually commissioning the artwork and they should have a very large say in what the final piece should actually look like rather than the artist’s interpretation.”
The aim of the motion is to increase public engagement, design a better selection process and consult appropriate cultural groups when dealing with public art proposals, said Keating.
However, Nenshi added Thursday, “I’m not interested in public votes on every piece of art. I don’t want a Boaty McBoatface situation,” he said, referring to a public poll to name a British research vessel.