Public art a success, city council hears

By Lethbridge Herald on May 15, 2025.

Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald

The Safety and Social Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council on Thursday heard details of the annual report of the City’s public art program.

A presentation was made to the SPC by Jillian Bracken, Community Arts and Culture Manager of the Recreation and Culture department. Bracken will also provide a report on the City’s fine art collection.

According to the report, 18 public art projects were completed here last year.

Projects included community murals and vinyl wraps. Murals were created in places such as the Nicholas Sheran Park picnic shelter, Helen Schuler Nature Centre, as well as local commercial sites.

Wraps were done on signal boxes at various locations.

The SPC heard in a video presentation that the murals are high impact projects that provide benefits from graffiti mitigation to public safety while attracting visitors and foot traffic.

Upcoming projects for this year and beyond include a youth engagement pilot project on the University Drive pedestrian underpass linking Heritage Heights with Leonard Van Tighem School. This project, with a budget of $75,000, consists of a mural that will be installed in June.

An Indigenous commemoration project, with a budget of $150,000, is intended to “explore how commemoration projects should manifest individually and how they speak to one another geographically, narratively, and artistically,” says a synopsis.

A renovation project at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, with a budget of $110,000, will modernize and enhance the facility. A public art project is to be included.

A multi-phase project costing $175,000 is expected to “create welcoming and vibrant asphalt art in the Henderson Park area with an eye to connecting the park with the Lethbridge and District Exhibition.”

When asked about the durability of asphalt, Bracken told the SPC that baby steps are being taken with asphalt art, starting with projects on pathways before expanding. She said her department will evaluate and learn from the progress.

A a multi-phase public art activation costing $90,000 is being planned for the airport. Calls will continue this year and into 2026 for the vinyl and ephemeral/temporary public art projects, says the report.

Other upcoming projects include planters on 13 St. N. The report says  the $65,000 project is an opportunity to address public concerns about  the planters on that street between 1 and 2 Ave N.

There is also a budget of $40,000 to continue the community mural program.

A report on the fine art collection notes it includes the Buchanan  Bequest consisting of 66 art works, photographs and other items and 23 other artworks. The Buchanan Bequest was given to the City in 1966 after the death of art historian Donald W. Buchanan.

In the report, Bracken told the SPC the City has no resources to support continued acquisitions of fine art assets and no capacity to maintain or exhibit fine art. She also noted there is redundancy with the University of Lethbridge holding a major fine art collection for the region and the Galt Museum and Archives’role in preserving the human history of the city and southwestern Alberta.