June 4th, 2009: A stroll along the Bishop Grandin Greenway is about to become even more scenic thanks to Winnipeg’s newest piece of public art.
By Matt Powers
June 4, 2009
A stroll along the Bishop Grandin Greenway is about to become even more scenic thanks to Winnipeg’s newest piece of public art.
Entitled land/mark, the giant aluminum sculpture will be located near the corner of St. Anne’s Road and Bishop Grandin Boulevard in St. Vital. Representatives from the city’s arts, nature and active living communities will gather for the official unveiling on June 6 as part of International Trails Day.
“This is the first project that we have done through the Winnipeg Arts Council on a trail or a greenway,” said Winnipeg Arts Council manager Tricia Wasney.
“It seemed like a good opportunity to combine artwork in that area with all the other recreational and natural enjoyment. It is just another way for people to encounter artwork in a completely natural way.”
Wasney said that when the WAC sent out the expression of interest to artists they were looking for a proposal that integrated art with the outdoors and linked the natural and cultural history of the area.
Vancouver artists Jacqueline Metz and Nancy Chew were commissioned to create the artwork. The pair describe the $100,000 sculpture as an enormous, mythical moose made from aluminum that is six-feet high and 14-feet across.
“We believe that the artwork will truly become a landmark, as its title suggests, that residents and visitors will engage with as they use the greenway system,” Wasney said.
The unveiling will take place June 6 at 10:30 a.m. It will be followed by a number of activities designed to promote the use of trails and a healthy lifestyle.
“The day is an opportunity for the whole family to explore some of our neighbourhood’s best kept trail secrets,” said Janice Lukes, coordinator of the Winnipeg Trails Association.
The Save Our Seine committee will host a free barbecue beginning at 11:30 a.m. Later that day participants will be invited to take part in a walk along the Louis Riel Senior Trail and through the heart of Winnipeg’s newest protected forest, Bois des Espirit, to visit a spirit tree and to interact with Metis interpreters and fiddlers along the way.
Winnipeg in motion, an agency that promotes healthy living, will host a walking rally as a way to educate people about the trails.
“We will put signage up along the trails and it will be like a scavenger hunt,” said co-ordinator Deanna Betteridge.
“Some will be interpretive signage. Others will be targeted at families where they receive a clue and will have to walk from sign to sign to find the answers.”
The day’s event will end at The Forks where live entertainment will be offered beginning at 7 p.m.
