New billboards give commuters a glimpse of rarely-seen art
Calgary Arts Development and the City of Calgary have teamed up to create Public Art Billboards, a new initiative designed to make art part of people's daily commutes.
Photos of select works from the city's public art collection — paintings, ceramics, textiles and more — will be displayed throughout the city on electronic billboards, which are already in place, in 2024.
Lead curator Sophia Lebessis has selected each artwork for the project. Many of the billboards will be located in parts of Calgary that do not have permanent public art installations.
“Public art connects people to each other in ways that other artwork often doesn’t,” said Gregory Burbidge, interim director of public art with Calgary Arts Development, in a CBC news story.
“This is a chance to enliven public spaces, with Calgary artists telling Calgary stories.”
There are more than 1,300 artworks in Calgary's civic art collection, which was started in 1911 and includes outdoor sculptures, memorials and street art, as well as portable art that is rotated throughout city spaces such as parks and the Plus 15 network. According to the City of Calgary, roughly 80 per cent of the collection is on view somewhere in the city at any given time. Much of the collection was acquired through private donations.
Source: CBC, City of Calgary
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