Calgary mayor hopefuls agree on need for more public engagement on city art

Eight of the men running to be the city's next mayor took turns pledging to boost public engagement in Calgary's public art program as they participated in a forum on arts and culture Monday night.

The forum, moderated by WordFest CEOShelly Youngblut, attracted a nearly full house of just under 500 people at the Grand Theatre. It organized by Alberta Theatre Projects, One Yellow Rabbitand Theatre Junction Grand.

All of the candidates agreed that the process of public art selection needs to change following the controversy surrounding the Bowfort Towers.

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The sculptures by New York artist Del Geist installed recently at the Trans-Canada Highway and Bowfort Road northwest cost $500,000 and immediately sparked uproar.

The installation features enormous slabs of Rundle rock held aloft by four sets of rusty steel beams along the roadside, intended as a gateway to the city.

Artists from the three Blackfoot nations of Siksika, Piikani and Kanai sent a letter to the city decrying it as cultural theft.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who is running for re-election, told the audience that criticism of the piece points to a need to rejig the selection process.

"Yeah, I think that the system needs to work much better," he said, addingthere should be more public input and greater flexibility in terms of where the artworks are placed.

Mayoral hopeful Bill Smith struck some of the same chords.

"We need to think about the location of these pieces. We need to think about public engagement with them, and how that looks, because it's still public money," he said.

Coun. Andre Chabot said he, too, would push for more public input on art if he's elected mayor.

"I think we need to have a better public process than we currently have," he said.

Smith also acknowledged that, over time, public disapproval of public art sometimes turns around.

"I didn't like the Peace Bridge at first.Love it now, think it's great. So, I can understand how someone can move along the continuum," he said.

Candidates Dr. Emile Gabriel and Paul Hughes added their voices to the chorus for a more inclusive selection process.

Candidate David Lapp suggested the current process favours an elitist point of view.

"We need a full community approach in regards to selecting these arts pieces," he said.

"Not just a small, private committee in a back room somewhere."

Lapp also said the city needs to remember that a big price tag doesn't always mean it's the best quality art.

Local artists wanted

"The merlot-sipping crowd might not always like it, but there is some high quality art that doesn't always have to cost a lot," he said.

In addition to bolstering the public engagement process in selecting public art, the city should also stick to local artists, according to candidate Shawn Baldwin.

"If we're doing public art in Calgary, it needs to be done by Calgarians," he said.

David Tremblay told the crowd he wants the city to do a better job of spreading around the money spent to support the arts in Calgary.

"There's so much talent here, so much talent here," he said.

"And we should be investing as much as we can in all of the wards. Because I feel it's very concentrated in the core. But those ones in the far suburbs deserve it too."

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