Gigi was created during the 2005 Works Art & Design Festival on Churchill Square. The artwork is a collaboration between Louis Munan and members of the Alberta Sculptors’ Association. The piece contains 3,000 pounds of concrete. Sponsoring Partners: City of Edmonton & The Works Art & Design Festival Supporting Partner: Oxford Properties Group Community Partner: Edmonton Arts Council Founding & Ongoing Partners: Edmonton Journal, City of Edmonton, Downtown Business Association, The Edmonton Business Council for Visual Arts

Louis Munan et al

Carousel is a large abstract mural created with acrylic paints and protected with a topcoat. It is located within the new Borden Park Pavilion on the west wall. The pavilion’s shape resembles a carousel, which is inspired by the history of the park as a former fairground. Through the layering of bright colours and shapes with lots of movement, the artist’s intent is to capture the spirit of vitality and enthusiasm. Just as a park becomes a place for collective imaginations to flourish, the mural echoes this sentiment. The abstracted shapes incorporate imagery if swings, carousels, and roller coasters. The viewer can interact visually with the work as he or she circles around the building.

Nicole Galellis

Nicole Galellis studied painting at the University of Alberta and then transferred to the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 2002. Since graduating, she has participated in artist residencies in Banff, Grande Prairie and Taipei, Taiwan. Nicole has taught at the Art Gallery of Alberta, Harcourt House Gallery and the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts. In 2012 she completed her degree in Art Education and teaches Art and English at Braemar High School.

Vaulted Willow (known as ​“Willow) is a celebration of artistic, architectural, and mathematic disciplines. Artist Marc Fornes describes the sculpture as an ​“architectural folly,” evoking the decorative, but generally non-practical structures that adorned the great estates of Europe in the 18^th & 19^th centuries. As a structure, it explores the concept of lightweight, self-supporting elements generated through computations of form and structure as well as descriptive geometry. The use of these processes unifies all elements of the sculpture — its structure, skin and ornamentation — into a single unified system. From a distance, the sculpture’s colours seem to meld seamlessly into one another. Up close, the surface is revealed as an intricate assembly of coloured structural shingles. Although similar, each digitally fabricated strip is unique. The shingles overlap each other creating a strong and thick, but delicate-looking structure. Willow’s colors originated in its immediate natural environment. The artist, realizing the sculpture’s potential as an iconic destination within Borden Park, pushed the hues toward artificiality. The greens and blues blend into a synthetic magenta, imbuing the sculpture with the appearance of motion. Willow’s colour, shape and tracery of light and shadow invite the passerby to stop, explore and play within. BITS AND PARTS: Willow is comprised of 721 aluminum stripes, 14,043 connectors (1÷4” aluminum rivets) and 60 epoxy concrete anchors. The aluminum (5052 type) is used in three different thicknesses: 1/8″ (3mm) stripes, 1/4″ (6mm) at the feet, and 1/2″ (10mm) for the 24 base plates that are anchored to a concrete pad of 240 cubic feet.. It took four days, and a crew of 4 to assemble the prefabricated parts.

Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY

Marc Fornes is the founder and principal of THEVERYMANY a design studio. His design and art projects have been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Extension Gallery in Chicago, Gallery Synesthesie in Paris, Gallery Roger Tate in Lyon, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Art Basel Miami Beach, and Bridge Gallery in New York. 

Within his academic background Marc Fornes has taught design studios and seminars at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Columbia University in New York, Harvard University in Cambridge, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Die Angewandte in Vienna. He has led many workshops and served as a guest critic at several institutions such as the Architectural Association in London, The Royal College of Art in London, Pratt Institute in New York, the University of Pennsylvania, and Ball State University. 

In 2007 Marc Fornes produced & curated ​‘Scriptedbypurpose’, the first exhibition exclusively focusing on scripted processes within design, and recently curated the European section for the Architecture Biennale 2008 in Beijing.

In keeping with the natural water theme of Borden Park Natural Swim Experience, William Frymire has proposed a large mosaic that echoes the environment and picks up on the circular cues inherent in new facility’s design. The colourful modern mosaic resembles a small pond and features three native Albertan aquatic species in the Western Painted Turtle, the Leopard Frog and the Dragonfly. This postmodernist style embraces the past but is a contemporary take on mosaic using Frymire’s self-developed method, which incorporates computer technology and variable size tiles to achieve a realistic and unique look that will create a lasting impression. ​“Through my choice of modern imagery and durable materials I will call attention to the health of our wetlands and the creatures that inhabit it. My innovative mosaic style and the ideas surrounding post World War II modernism will work in synergy with the architectural elements of the site. To juxtapose the modernism of the architecture while echoing the curves of the site with the circular ripple pattern I am incorporating images of animal species native to the province. The Western Painted turtle is an endangered species and is the only resident native freshwater turtle of Alberta. The Northern Leopard Frog’s numbers are dwindling and the dragonflies are a key sign of pond health. All are interdependent species susceptible to human modification of our natural environment. Calling attention to them through the mosaic is educational and the illusion of a shallow pond conveys the message in a playful and fun manner while underlining the natural filtration of the pool’s ecosystem”.

William Frymire

Canadian artist William Frymire is based in Kamloops, British Columbia.

With over 25 years of experience working as a commercial artist, and illustrator, William Frymire is currently pursuing a career in sustainable public art, as well as creating fine art from found objects, natural stone and recycled materials. Environmentalism is a common theme in his work and his participation in various recycled art exhibitions demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability.

Frymire was born of Métis heritage in Prince George, Canada in 1965. He holds a diploma in Art in Merchandising from Langara College and a diploma in Digital Art and Design from Thompson Rivers University.

In addition to winning the Kamloops Art Council Juried Art Show, Frymire has been acknowledged by Thompson Rivers University as a Distinguished Alumni for Professional Achievement.