Prologue to downtown Calgary's quirky public art
Within a few short blocks of the Dorian Hotel (Calgary’s newest downtown hotel) are several quirky public art works that make for a fun downtown adventure. Let’s grab a coffee at the Dorian’s Prologue Café/Cocktails (525 5 Ave SW) and explore.
FYI: Dorian Hotel is offering complimentary parking on the weekends for anyone coming to Prologue for coffee, cocktails, afternoon tea or lunch in Wilde on 27 every Saturday.
OfF We Go….
Walk out the front door, turn right, then right again on 4th Street and walk a block to Hotchkiss Gardens where you will encounter a herd of horses, created by one of Canada’s most famous artists, the late Joe Fafard. The piece has the strange title “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, Do.” Be sure to go up close to the horses as there are hundreds of little figures in the silhouettes. FYI: The horse has been influential in the history of Calgary - the indigenous people, ranching and Calgary Stampede. In fact the piece was commissioned by the Calgary Stampede and there is an identical piece in Quebec City in celebration of its 400th Anniversary. Ironically, Calgary and Quebec City are sister cities.
FYI: Fans of The Sound of Music should be aware that the spelling of the seventh horse is as Fafard intended and is not a misspelling. “When I was asked to create a sculpture that would reside in both Quebec City and Calgary, I immediately knew the story I wanted to tell: the story of commonality across this great country,” Fafard said at the time of the official opening in Quebec City. “I have used the Canadian horse as a metaphor to represent sound — a song — a sense of harmony. I added a symphony of colours and then knew it was done.”
Be sure to inspect the horses close-up as the horses are full of playful tiny animals and figures.
Walk up 4th Street past Holt Renfrew (or go in if you want to do a bit of shopping) turn left on 8th Ave for a block and you will be immediately struck by 10 huge white structures. They have no official title. Some call them the trees, others pooper scoopers. They also have no designated artist as they were constructed as part of the Bankers’ Hall public space improvements. The original plan was to create a glass canopy over the street but the owners of the Banker’s Hall and The Core couldn’t come to an agreement on how to make that happen so the trees are the skeleton of the proposed galleria.
Be sure to look at the trees from different angles.
A temporary installation titled Novus Textura consists of 4.25 kilometres of hand cut straps that travel from massive 'spools' at ground level into the branches Galleria Trees. This site-specific public art installation by Gordon Skilling and Jolie Bird, is a metaphor of the urban fabric and a fun and playful way of representing new directions for downtown Calgary. It is meant to “symbolizes our city’s history of collaborative innovation, bringing together a team of artists, designers, engineers, and fabricators, in representing Calgary's unceasing resiliency through challenging times”
Walk to the end of the block (2nd St) turn right and you will arrive at small plaza with several poles with people on top, looking like whirly-gigs. These are Colette Whiten and Paul Kipps’ “Weather Vanes.” They create a wonderful sense of play and welcoming that is often missing in tall corporate office buildings.
This is a great example of how public art humanizes the urban landscape and creates a more interesting pedestrian experience. I love the combination of figures from mother and child to business men to older women and runner - all of which you can find in downtown.
If you look across the street, you will see Nova Twist by an 18 foot twisted steel sculpture by Beverly Pepper. To me it looks like a twisted “C,” that could be a play on the fact it is situated between Calgary’s C-train rail tracks on 7th Ave and the CPR railway tracks (between 9th and 10th Ave) which were instrumental is shaping Calgary’s sense of place.
Now head back to 8th Ave, turn right and wander along Calgary’s Stephen Avenue Walk, a National Heritage site for its preserved early 20th century sandstone century buildings. In front of The Bay, you will find “The Conversation” by William McElcheran which was placed on Stephen Avenue Walk in 1981. It is perhaps Calgary’s most popular statue. It was donated to the City of Calgary by Norcen Energy. It is also popular with tourists, who love to get their picture taken with these two Calgarians. It is sometimes referred to as “The Two Fat Cats.”
At the corner of 8th Ave and 1st St, next to the SALTLIK restaurant is a funky metal horse made out old farm elements. It is also a popular selfie spot.
Proceed to 9th Ave and across the street from the historic Grain Exchange building on the plaza infront of the Edison building is “Emergent” by Jill Anholt. It consists of two slanting vertical mirrors linked by a wavy boardwalk-like structure. Get up close and you will enjoy the playful reflections of the surrounding buildings. Look in the mirror and your body changes shape.
Time to start heading back along 1st Street SW (away from the underpass) to 6th Avenue where you turn left to encounter two strange alien-looking figures – one yellow and one red – on your left. Meet Sadko (red) and Kabuki (yellow) by Sorel Etrog. The story goes Etrog found an eye screw on a street in Toronto, that inspired him to think about the possibilities of using nuts, bolts, and screw eyes as a new means of expressing the increasing mechanization of humanity. It always amazes me where artists get their inspiration from.
Keep walking west along 6th Ave and you will find a huge mural painted by Calgary muralist Doug Driediger on the backside of the downtown Petroleum Club. At the time, Reuters reported it as the largest mural in Canada. It commemorates the impact of the oil and gas industry on the Alberta with the original wooden derrick from Turner Valley find, a vintage water truck, juxtaposed with a farming/ranching scene with a landowner surveying his property, some cattle and pump-jacks all living in seemingly harmony. It testifies the vital role oil and gas and agriculture have had and continue to have in the evolution of Alberta as a place for humans to thrive.
Keep walking west and you will be back at the park with the horses. Turn right on 4th Street, and then left on 6th Ave and you will be back to The Dorian or you can cut through the park.
FYI: Wallace Gallery is on the corner of 4th Street and 5th Ave SW if you are wanting to experience more art, perhaps take something home with you.
Time for a cocktail and a treat? FYI: Happy Hour at Prologue is Monday to Friday from 3 pm – 6 pm, enjoy 40% off wine by the glass and crafted cocktails
Last Step
Downtown Calgary has literally hundreds of public artworks scattered along the streets, avenues, parks, plazas, back alleys and even in the lobby of office buildings. It is literally an outdoor art gallery.
This walk will take you anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on how fast you walk, how long you look and how many photos you take. Feel free to venture off-the-beaten-path and you will be rewarded with more fun urban surprises.
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