There are layers to putting art in a public place that go beyond the physical materials and construction: conversations with all sorts of community partners, from residents to the place itself can, and should, affect the final work. To that effect, Tiffany Shaw—a Métis artist and architect whose work has resonated all over Canada—is beginning to reach out about a new art installation that will eventually take shape along the Red Willow Park West Meadowview trails.

“We're really trying to sort out what's the best route for engagement,” Shaw explains. “Trying to figure out ways that we can hear the voice of the residents, and also any kind of content that the land wants to share with us as well.”

Shaw was awarded the contract by the City after responding to a call for proposals last fall. An acclaimed artist and core member of the Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective, she’s currently working at Reimagine Architects, and recently started her own Indigenous-owned consulting company, Reimagine Gathering. She’s had previous work featured at the International Children's Festival of the Arts, and has made a few pieces of public art before: one of hers, pehonan, is part of Edmonton’s Indigenous Art Park, and she was commissioned to create art for Winnipeg’s Markham bus station in 2020.

“I love to tell stories through materials,” she says. “I find that this public art practice helps feed my architectural practice and vice versa […] They really speak to each other, and develop different prompts, but also build together to create a general, brighter understanding of place.”

As Shaw finalizes her plans for this new work in St. Albert, there will be several opportunities to participate in the process.

First up will be a series of guided tours with different themes: one focused on local vegetation, and another on the area’s historical transportation systems. There will also be a workshop with those whose families have connections to the river lots, and a tent at this year’s International Children's Festival of the Arts.

An activity sheet is also being drafted, and hopefully out by the end of May, through which the public can survey their knowledge of the local area.

All of this will factor into what eventually becomes the finished work.

“St. Albert has such a rich history,” Shaw says. “We think through these different levers we can find out the fullness of this area. Then, in the late summer in the fall, I'll be actually creating the idea of what it is.”

“Art projects are really great ways to learn a lot more about a place,” she continues. “You have a responsibility to really be respectful with that information, because how will that translate to public space, the public realm?”

Shaw notes that her Métis family hasn’t always historically been represented here, and that art can help address that absence.

“Moving through architecture and art does that: it recognizes who we are as humans, as people as connected to each other and community.  … So I'm really interested in finding the nexus of these ideas and creating opportunities that lift the voice of the underserved, but also create a beautiful space for people to rest and enjoy leisure activities, so that while they're moving through difficult things or ideas or stages in their life, there's a reprieve for them.”

“I'm mostly just trying to create oases  for people to belong.”

Learn more about Tiffany and her practice by visiting her website: https://tiffanyshaw.ca. To stay up to date on upcoming engagement opportunities for Red Willow Park West Meadowview Trails visit 

Red Willow Park West Meadowview Project / City of St. Albert and for more about the park project visit https://stalbert.ca/dev/construction/parks/red-willow-park-west/

Article written by Paul Blinov

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