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Community art lifting spirits in Cougar Creek

“It’s a lovely thing to go through and see all these various pieces. I think it was a wonderful thing that the town did at a really good time for people, to sort of help lift morale a little bit.”

CANMORE – At a time when people are looking to have their spirits lifted, a new public art project along Cougar Creek is doing just that. 

Fonda Sparks, a well-known local painter, fibre artist and printmaker, imagined linoprinted flags to be hung on the pedestrian bridge spanning the creek after being asked to contribute to the municipality's Building Neighbourhoods Builds Community project. 

“I kind of knew I wanted to do something with linoprinting, and I wanted to be able to teach people how to linoprint as well, so that they could have that experience,” Sparks said. “Because part of it is people connecting a certain amount during COVID, and getting new skills, and feeling part of a community.”

The project is a public art initiative with the Town of Canmore that was designed to give support to local artists during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding was provided by the Town’s Economic Development Pandemic Response Plan, and nine artists from nine neighbourhoods were tasked with creating and displaying artwork reflective of the spirit of their communities.

Executing that vision in normal times with 20 participants would require a fair amount of organizational expertise, but with the coronavirus restrictions in place in late summer and early fall, teaching the necessary skills in a classroom style setting was not an option.

Sparks had to supervise the process in much smaller groups of two or three while adhering to COVID protocols. Fortunately, the project was completed before stricter measures were implemented in November.

“I taught each of them how to linoprint, and then they produced each print, and then each flag has four prints from four different people on it,” Sparks said. “And I think we repeated each print five times.”

The end result was 20 flags that were hung along the bridge that are unique from one another, while still having recurring elements in each. The individual linoprint images are approximately 20 centimetres wide by 30-cm high, and each four-image flag is roughly 54-cm by 67-cm and is oriented vertically.

“Each print represents a community member or their family,” Sparks said, “And I didn’t give a lot of restrictions for people on what they could do, because I wanted it to represent their interests and their passions. So, by having four different people on each flag it was a little bit like a community itself.”

What is compelling about the flags, is each image evokes a certain mood or thought for the viewer, but then gains a slightly new perspective when seen on another flag with a different set of companion images.

From a purely practical standpoint, a four-image flag is also a better size for an outdoor public art platform, and wildlife, mountain landscapes and outdoor recreation are common themes.

“Part of why I wanted to teach linoprinting, is it’s relatively easy to teach people how to do it, and it’s a great art form because even sometimes your mistakes turn out to be beautiful,” Sparks said.

“It’s sort of this rustic art form, and a lot of the people that signed up weren’t artists at all, and didn’t even have an artistic inclination, so they were very nervous about going through this. I think everyone produced beautiful, beautiful pieces, and some people were very surprised by their artistic abilities.”

Linoprinting itself is a multi-step process that has an element of craftsmanship as well as art to it. After creating the original design, it is traced onto paper with a very soft pencil, that is then rubbed onto the lino. The lino in this case has the consistency of a hard eraser, and a carving tool is used to remove the negative space creating a kind of stamp. Then the image is rolled with fabric ink and is printed onto the chosen fabric medium.

The stamp is reusable, and Sparks said many of the participants reported feeling a meditative calm while engaging in the process.

“I’ve had many, many requests from people for where to buy supplies, so I think over Christmas people were getting a lot of linoprinting,” Sparks said with a laugh.

The challenges of an outdoor art exhibit are many, not least of which is winter weather in the Rocky Mountains.

“With any project there’s a certain amount of experimentation that you have to do, and so I knew I needed a really hardy fabric,” Sparks said. “So, I went with a painter’s canvas, a drop cloth essentially, and it’s been great. It’s been holding up really well so far.”

Only 19 of the original 20 flags remain, and it is unclear whether the missing flag was removed intentionally, or if it was taken away by a severe windstorm. Overall, however, the canvas has been resistant to the elements, and there has been minimal fading of the images. The community itself has also taken to making repairs by replacing zip ties when need be.

“I think because so many people were involved, there’s a lot of people who feel ownership over it,” Sparks said.

Looking back on the Building Neighbourhoods Builds Community initiative as a whole, Sparks feels like the plan put forward by the Town was a success. The wide variety of projects represented the members of each community that participated in a creative way, and it was also an opportunity for people to connect safely through art at a time when the isolation experienced throughout the pandemic has been difficult for many.

“And just having the extra art in town, I think helps brighten spirits,” Sparks said. “It’s a lovely thing to go through and see all these various pieces. I think it was a wonderful thing that the Town did at a really good time for people, to sort of help lift morale a little bit.”

For more on Fonda Sparks and her artwork, visit fondasparks.com, and for more information on all the artwork from the Building Neighbourhoods Builds Community project visit the Town of Canmore’s website.

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