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Fernie arena getting some colour
Despite being the home rink of one of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s top teams in the past decade, the Fernie Memorial Arena is a pretty drab building.
Pushing 50, the old rink has been in need of some exterior loving and a new community project, brokered by The Arts Station, is helping add some zing to the Highway 93 wall.
The inaugural Public Art Project, part of the Arts Station’s 20th anniversary celebrations, is a gift to the City of Fernie.
“The Arts Station has received so much community support over the years that we wanted to give something back. We hope that this will be the first of many Public Art projects,” said Courtney Baker of the Art Station.
After a call for entry was issued, The Art Station’s jury panel settled on Agassiz artists Rosa Quintana and Mike Edwards, who are currently applying ‘Patterns on Ice’ to the side of the rink.
The swirls of blue-heavy colours are patterns left in the ice from skate blades, explained Quintana.
“We researched patterns of skate marks on ice and came up with the design,” she told e-KNOW, July 28.
The couple, and their friendly old standard poodle, began the large mural on July 18 and hope to be finished by August 2.
“The rain has put a bit of a damper on our plans,” Quintana said.
In order to create the intricate designs, Edwards and Quintana work evenings, projecting images from their laptop onto the wall and then tracing them. In the day time they fill in the traced lines with colour.
Baker stated that Public Art is “truly a community initiative as The Arts Station was assisted throughout the entire process by a group of local art ambassadors who tirelessly fundraised, spread the word and created enthusiasm for this project. Three people in particular, Oz Parsons, Gail Adams and Angela Morgan were instrumental in the success of this project and it is their dedication to the creation and installation of art in Fernie’s public spaces that made this dream a reality. From conception to the final brushstroke, this effort is a wonderful example of local leaders joining with artists to create public artwork that reflects the diversity and vision of the community.”
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
