BANFF – It may be new to Bear Street, but the Town of Banff’s latest addition to its public art collection tells a story that predates human history, capturing the timeless beauty and power of glacial processes that shape the rugged Rocky Mountains.
For inspiration, Métis artist Tiffany Shaw went straight to the source.
“I look forward to amplifying conversations that identify past, present and future responses that the surrounding landscape is speaking to for the town of Banff,” said Shaw, who visited the Athabasca Glacier and several other sites to research place, the natural ecosystem and the character of the Rockies.
The mountain tour left the artist with more than a mental and spiritual impression, but a physical one, too. While visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most-visited glaciers in North America, she literally took impressions of its formation to cast onto her piece, ask the water.
The surface pattern of the Athabasca Glacier’s ice is now forever enshrined in glass, bringing a unique lens to a moment in the glacier’s evolving geological lifespan from the alpine to Bear Street.
While developing the piece, Shaw explored the life cycles of water, glacier formation and how those processes shape and connect the landscape.
“The work references the glacial processes that have shaped the mountain landscapes that surround the town of Banff,” said Banff Community Art Committee chair Elise Findlay.
“The work is really an opportunity to reflect on our surroundings in relation to the cycles of water.”
The piece is comprised of glass, Kootenay stone and metal, and is meant to speak to connectedness and shared ecosystems.
The Bow River, created by Ice Age glaciers, has flowed uninterrupted for 10,000 years due to glacial melt at its headwaters. Glacial thaw continues to shape the river valley and surrounding landscape.
Because of a warming climate, the Athabasca Glacier – located in the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park – has been receding for the last 125 years.
The glacier saw more ice melt in 2023 than in any of the past 10 years, according to Parks Canada.
“One of the things that we wanted as the art committee commissioning this piece was to create an artwork that really creates a space for contemplation and a piece that invites moments of reflection and consideration of our natural surroundings,” said Findlay.
“We were really fortunate to be able to get an artist with Shaw’s experience and the ability to create a site-specific and responsive artwork that speaks to our relationship with the ecosystems we live in and are part of.”
The artwork is of and about place, and not something that can be cited anywhere else.
“That was our goal as the art committee, to have a piece of public art that really is connected to its location, connected to our community and speaks to the ecosystems that surround us,” said Findlay.
It was important that it also fit within the redeveloped Bear Street.
“The idea for the street is really to have a pedestrian-friendly space and a place of gathering. So, we really wanted the artwork itself to reflect those ideas,” said Findlay.
The artwork was funded by the Town of Banff’s public art reserve, with up to $105,000 to pay for materials, installation, transport and commissioning Shaw.
The project is a collaboration between Shaw, Banff’s public art committee, Angela Schenstead, CMCK Public Art, Firebrand Glass Studios and Carvel Creative.
It is the ninth installation in the Town of Banff’s public art collection and will be celebrated with a community launch event in September.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
