City seeks input on Public Art Master Plan
By Lethbridge Herald on March 27, 2025.
Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Steven Foord, executive director of the Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge and Jillian Bracken, community arts and culture manager with the city of Lethbridge are encouraging community members to engage in the Public Art Master Plan update.Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – apulido@lethbridgeherald.com
The City of Lethbridge has announced the Public Art Master Plan is being updated and they are inviting the community to help shape the future of public art in Lethbridge.
The master plan guides the city’s public art program, and the project will kick off with a series of events early next month, says Jillian Bracken, Community Arts and Culture Manager.
“Starting with a Public Art Film Night at the Movie Mill on April 7, and that is followed by a series of engagement labs called Idea Labs, where we hope the public will come out and share their thoughts and ideas,” said Bracken.
The City’s public art program started in the 1980s as a Fine Arts acquisition program. Since then it has grown to include a variety of installations ranging from long-term sculptures to shorter-term vinyl and wrap-around traffic control signal boxes, among others.
“Probably the most iconic piece in the collection is ‘A Departure,’” says Bracken. “Most people know it as the train wheels located on the coulees edge by the Galt Museum and Archives.”
There are more than 70 active art installations across the city and people can find out more about them by visiting https://publicartlethbridge.ca/
“Public art is a really important part of the city’s cultural landscape,” says Bracken. “It is part of the city’s identity as well, something that provides the public with accessible opportunities to encounter art in their daily lives.”
She says planning for the future is an important part of what they do at the city, to make sure that the investments they make in the community are done strategically and purposefully. To that end, the City first developed its Public Arts Master Plan in 2012, which is now due for an update to check with the community and make sure that the vision of the program is still accurate.
“The master plan lays out the different roles and responsibilities, it talks about what the purpose of the program is and how we run it, and through that public engagement it will define how the committee, the City and the community will invest in public art moving forward,” says Bracken.
Steven Foord, executive director of the Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge, added that public art is a tremendously important part of the community, and it’s what elevates the city from being just a municipality to being a home.
“What takes your home from being just a house is the art that you hang up in the walls, the music that you play in your house, so that is the way I have always viewed public art,” says Foord.
He said public art showcases the identity and the heart of the city, and reflects the voices from within the community.
“Everyone has a say in what that looks like, so it is very important for people to engage and be part of that process,” says Foord.
Future engagement will include an online survey, artist-led community events and town hall meetings. A draft report is set to be presented to Lethbridge City Council in early 2026.
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, I would be all for art, only if I could choose. My tax dollars shouldn’t pay for something that somebody unilaterally labels “art”. Some of the eyesores around the city are so painfully ugly , your average Joe citizen would get an unsightly yard citation from the city for having something similar.
You do realize you’ve suggested replacing a public consultation process with a unilateral process, don’t you?
Do you mean how the City of Lethbridge has “unilaterally” committed who knows how many tax dollars to this project?
This “consultation process” just to cover someone’s a__ at City Hall in case this “vanity project” blows up in their face when it’s re-election time after the money has already been spent.
Kind of like our new Lethbridge & District Exhibition fiasco, but just on a smaller $$ scale I hope.
i see, so art is only art – or, acceptable for all – when old school deems it as such. this is the type of thinking that underscore the despots, as well as those that give rise to and sustain despots.
put another way, taste and preference are aspects of a free society, insofar that the actions of one do not infringe upon the rights of another. in a fair and decent society that honours rights, there will always be some things that we all pay fractions for that do not suit our tastes and preferences; however, there will be many things that we are more than just ok with.
please open up to the adage that variety is the spice of life.
I have no beef with what one person considers art, and another person considers trash.
Everyone should be allowed to have an opinion.
However, I absolutely agree that ZERO tax dollars should be spent on this sort of thing.
My City of Lethbridge tax bill is high enough as it is.
Any money being discussed to support this “vanity project” should immediately be re-directed to more worthwhile area’s such as infrastructure repairs or upgrades, or maybe the Police Service to combat Lethbridge’s growing crime problems.
How much is this going to cost the taxpayer? Who will pay for repairing damages when some nice ‘vulnerable member of society’ puts his gang tag on it or is own idea of art, which is ugly!? Who is going to pay?
Those are the answers I would to know!
my god – what are about the tax dollar that is spent on something that our final say dude – say what – determines to be ugly. none of us wish us to spend stupidly on art, but spending on art is worthwhile.
typically we find in this forum the strong correlation between the professed devout christian and controlism. how about we let god smite any art that this ugly, and you can get your money back by withholding your sunday investment in heaven to get your money back from god.
How did we make the leap between this subject and Christians?
If citizens of Lethbridge want to have the art of their choice displayed around the city, how about they start fundraising to pay for it?
Leave the taxpayers of Lethbridge out of it. Regardless of their religious beliefs or not.
if that is how society worked, there would be very little done. i suppose we could try ending taxes at all levels and leave it thousands of various “groups” to scrounge up donations to pay for services and extras, but that may not work out as well.
I really enjoyed exploring publicartlethbridge.ca. I had no idea that we had so many visual treats.. Judging art is subjective, eyeofthebeholder type stuff
When it comes to deciding to spend taxpayer dollars on often over-priced pieces however prudence must prevail. Our Council must always consider the budget and the economic situation facing the citizens. Tough times are ahead for Canada so needs must always displace wants.