For some women, cleaning out their closets and parting with some of their beloved shoes can be an agonizing task. However, Jann Arden, Kim Campbell, Catriona Le May Doan and nine other famous Canadian women each gave up a pair of shoes for a greater cause.
The Okotoks Art Gallery is bringing back its For the Love of Shoes exhibit which features 12 pairs of shoes once belonging to well-known Canadian women transformed into works of art by local artists. Everyone involved in the project also has a personal connection to cancer and the gallery will once again partner with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and collect donations and raise funds for the cause.
“The whole idea of the shoes is the connection of that we all walk in a pair of shoes everyday and we’re all connected to cancer in some way, shape or form and through art we’re trying to expose and raise awareness of that cause,” said Allan Boss, cultural and historical services team lead for the Town of Okotoks.
After the 2010 exhibit, the shoe art was intended to be auctioned off at a gala to raise funds for the foundation, however, the gala never went ahead, he explained. Since then, they have been stored away, with staff wondering what to do with them.
“I didn’t want to lose some of the momentum that we had gained from (the show) and I didn’t want them sitting in storage for 10 years,” Boss said.
So it was decided the pieces of art would find new homes throughout Okotoks to help raise awareness for art and breast cancer, he said. One piece featuring Olympic hockey gold medalist Hayley Wickenheiser’s skates is on display at the Okotoks Recreation Centre.
“They’re going to enliven our community for years to come,” Boss said.
The exhibit itself will be displayed differently than the previous show and will also include an audio piece featuring the stories from breast cancer survivors.
For the Love of Shoes will likely appeal to more than just shoe lovers, said Jan Robinson, education program specialist for the Town’s cultural and historical services. Each piece of art in the show is quite distinctive and fascinating, she said.
“Each pair of shoes was really dealt with uniquely which makes the show so interesting because it’s not like 12 pedestals with shoes,” Robinson said.
Okotoks artist Shirley Paradis was given ballerina Karen Kain’s toe shoes and created a young girl out of copper and stained glass.
“She’s holding (the shoes) like she was just awarded them for a prize,” Paradis explained. “She’s just hugging them to her little chest and she’s got a copper tutu with beads.”
For Paradis, who danced for years, it was a significant project to take part in and extremely touching to receive Kain’s shoes, she said. Paradis added she still has her pink ballet slippers from when she was six years old.
The project was also significant for the Okotoks artist, whose mother died of cancer. Paradis spent five months caring for her mother in Edmonton after she was diagnosed, she explained.
By displaying the art around town, Paradis said the show will evolve into something wonderful and leave behind a lasting legacy.
“It’s going to last for a very, very long time and be a reminder of peoples’ hopes and wishes and their strives to succeed in this fight (against cancer) and it’s also going to be something that we have for a long time to be proud of.”
She added it helps to raise awareness and encourage people to step up and help battle cancer, be it through art, fundraising or lending a hand at a hospice. She also noted there are some positive and miraculous stories surrounding the survivors.
“It’s just a wonderful thing to have to demonstrate that there is a continuing beautiful, spiritually and physically, beautiful fight against this dreaded disease,” she said of the art.
“There’s some beauty and some dignity still to be gained in this battle.”
For the Love of Shoes will be on display at the Okotoks Art Gallery from Feb. 10 until March 18. An opening reception for this exhibit and for A Lady’s Journey will take place Feb. 10 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the gallery.
The gallery will also host programs related to the exhibit. Children can bring in a pair of shoes and turn them into a work of art Feb. 11 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at a cost of $7. Paradis will host an adult workshop March 14 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. where participants bring in a shoe and create a stain glass panel based on a pattern of the shoe. The workshop costs $10. For more information, contact the gallery at 403-938-3204.
