Guest Column: A Perfect canvas awaits
By Medicine Hat News Opinon on May 27, 2019.
I was recently invited to an occasion at the Axxess condo. There sure is a lot of infrastructure work going on around Saamis Drive. Ended up – after marvelling at the immensity of that project – staring out at the view from the south side of the furthest south Axxess building, not really immediately “catching” on to what I was looking at. Then, bingo, I thought what a great canvas right there, about 600m away. Canvas for what, one might be tempted to ask. There, staring at me, was that wonderful opportunity for some great “graffiti.” Great graffiti? Grafitti was not exactly known as something great. A nuisance even. But anyone talented and skilled with any sense of appreciation for something attractive and attention-grabbing, so to speak, must have found that what used to be a great nuisance – and very often still is vulgar, juvenile stupidity and silliness, costly to remove, and ugly – has slowly turned into an art form, done by guys and gals of obviously marvellous abilities. Take, for example, that colourful display downtown and the underpass and the “tunnel.” It has turned much of the previously noticeably depressing frontages into something almost grand. So what am I going on about? Well, I’m sure everyone going by or living near or travelling by on the Trans-Canada Highway has seen it. That bald, large, unfinished west end wall of what was supposed to be a completed, but not yet, Medican condo. Well, I thought to myself, that bare wall ought to be a wonderful street art piece of work. “But,” y’all might say, “the planned condo is going to be completed sometime and would then be a wasted effort.” What about ice sculptures or sand castles? Those marvellous creations alas soon to vanish. That wall, I’m sure, consists of four-by-eight-foot sheets of something, and would be easily disassembled, after serving for some time as an advertisement of the Hat’s many talents and skills, and, I might add, community and commercial spirit. And then what? The sheets auctioned off as a fundraiser for some most worthy charitable cause, or for slowly turning the Hat into a Mecca for talented/skilled public art amateurs or even professionals. It would add to the already well known historic Medalta Potteries and other great attractions and would signal to anyone driving by, in any direction: Hey! This burg, already having that unusual name, must be some city. Perhaps we should check it and stop there for a while. That large memorial on the hill side consisting of a very visible – and I might add most worthy reminder of the sacrifices made by this region’s men and women in the First World War – but only some of the locals and the odd history buff driving by would understand what it stands for. Now the proposed “wall art,” that would really say something, be easily understood and recognizable and very attractive. It would depend, of course, who, from the Hat or Redcliff or anywhere in this corner of our Alberta, would have not only the talents, the skills, the equipment, the wherewithal, but also the will and spirit, to tackle this project. I do know that there are more Christy Vinces and Cheyenne Summers and James Marshalls in this area. Some in the local art club, the college, the high schools. heck, even someone hiding his/her creativity in that special corner of their inner beings. It would also depend on the design, the message, and, of course, also on the help, financially and otherwise, from some person or organization, with the vision to picture it. Why, I would guess, considering the more or less short life of this bit of our collective imagination, would be rebuilt, re-assembled, elsewhere, just as visible, and serve as a permanent canvas. Other towns and cities, all over the world, have used bare surfaces, ugly walls, etc., to improve what not only would be of some bit of joy for the folks coming to visit, but also for the locals. Just sort of dreaming, visualizing, imagining, I guess. But, hey, where would this world be without the odd dreamer somewhere. Ted Kohlmetz is a retired citizen of Medicine Hat. 14-13
