Written By Becky Hagan-Egyir
In the spring of 1986, The Works Art & Design Festival was unveiled for the first time in downtown Edmonton. It was the beginning of a relationship that celebrated all things art and the ideas shared between artists and visitors. This legacy continues in 2014, as, in the words of Amber Brooke The Work’s Executive Artistic Director, this festival delights in art and design “that engage in community [the] way that our partners, sponsors, artists, interns, volunteers, and collaborators do”. With all of this support, the festival is preparing to fill Edmonton with creative pieces for its 29th season from June 19 – July 1, 2014.
This year, the festival reveals work based on the theme of movement. Coinciding with this year’s theme, visitors must move to different areas of the city to view artworks and performances. The various sites will include The Work’s traditional downtown core of Churchill Square and range as far south as the University of Alberta’s FAB art gallery, and as far north as The Nina Hagerty Centre for the Arts. Nature even becomes a key point of exploration as tours and works based out of Edmonton’s River Valley will be on display.
Free tours beginning at the info tent in the south end of Churchill Square will take visitors to many sites of interest, and for those who prefer being on two wheels, bike tours are an alternative option. Every place exhibits the spirit of this Edmonton festival favourite, revealing works from over 600 artists — both local and international!
Throughout Churchill Square visitors will be encouraged to feel like they’re an active part of artists and designers’ creative process. One of Canada’s official war artists and this year’s artist in residence at The Works, Michael Markowsky, will create 10 x 20 foot paintings inspired by his journey through the sky as he travelled in a supersonic fighter plane. In Faster Than the Speed of Sound the drawings he completed while flying faster than the speed of sound will be on display, beside live works that will be worked on while visitors watch and learn about his creative process — all this takes place within The Works Big Tent.
Down the street at the Stanley A. Milner Public Library, visitors will experience what artist Aaron Paquette describes as a more than a century long “Cold War” being fought by Canada’s Indigenous population. Visitors become part of Paquette’s work, Four Directions, Many Paths, by walking through panels which all together resemble a tipi. Each side deals with a particular issue and asks: “If we the viewers are leaving the issues behind us when we leave the space or are we going to return to the issues with a solution of our own”. There are plenty of chances to make what you see at The Works part of your own vision about the world and the role of art in it.
For more information and a map of the sites visit theworks.ab.ca/special-events.
