The Nooks and Crannies art festival kicked off July 17 for its third year, running until Aug. 28, with works of art from artists squirreled away for pedestrians to find.
“I was interested in temporary art that wasn’t meant to last,” said organizer Melissa Cole. “Traditionally, when you make a piece of art, it's meant to last for decades, if not centuries.”
The idea came to be during a meeting with Allan Boss,Town of Okotoks culture and heritage lead, who suggested a project using the forgotten hidden spaces for art installations.
Stressing the importance of public art, Cole wanted people to be able to explore it on their own terms.
“You do it in your own time, by yourself or with your family, and I think it’s important to have that,” she said. “To be able to walk around your town or town you're visiting, and just to stumble upon it in these places that you would never encounter in any other time.”
The artists were required to use recycled or repurposed materials for their installations, exploring the idea of more ephemeral fixtures, using equally impermanent everyday materials.
“We're getting artists coming and building art installations out of materials that people have thrown away,” Cole said. “It brings awareness to these materials that we use every day, and we don’t really think much of and just tossed them.
“Especially since there’s beauty in them through these artworks that you don’t even notice the artist is using, and then you look closer and realize it’s a piece of plastic or a pie tin or something like that.”
Okotoks artist Jennifer Stables, whose sculpture installation is titled We are Stories, features a young tortoise sitting to listen to stories from its elder.
“This year I wanted to do something about stories,” said Stables, who also illustrates and writes children’s books. “It’s the idea that we’re not the things that we own, we’re not the things that we leave behind, but we are the stories that we tell each other and the stories that we become to each other.”
The two tortoises, which Stables’ son dubbed Marty and Tortimer, are composed of various pieces of recycled goods.
“The fact that this is made from all salvaged and recyclable materials kind of gives us a moment to reflect on what we throw away and what we consume or let go to waste,” she said.
This includes plastic harvested from single-use containers, knickknacks harvested from thee junk drawer, and even papier mache clippings of the Western Wheel, which the artist said brings the concept back around to the idea of stories.
“They’re on the back of the turtle, so you can see different voices of the community that are present there,” she said.
“I hope when people see it, they get the message to slow down, stop, take your time, because that’s the one thing that a turtle can represent — slowing down and appreciating the things around you.”
Also contributing to the festival is St. John Paul II Collegiate student Maddie Maher.
“I was inspired because my art teacher Miss Robin (Thibodeau) had been doing it in the past and I wanted to do something too,” Maher said.
Her installation, located on the west side of the Elks Hall on Elizabeth Street, features an assortment of cacti crafted from recycled and repurposed materials.
“I’d previously drawn other cactuses beforehand and thought ‘Oh, these would make a cute display,’” she said, adding she had an affinity for the prickly succulents.
“They’re all different, they don’t have to look the same. They can have different colours, different shapes, and they still look like cactuses.”
Maddie Maher poses for a portrait with her art installation, an assortment of cacti made from repurposed and recycled materials for the Nooks and Crannies festival on July 28. Maher's work can be found on the west side of the Elks Hall on Elizabeth Street. By Brent Calver/OkotoksTODAYShe also has an affinity for public art in general on account of it being accessible to the general public.
“I really like public art because you could just be walking with your friends and see something really pretty — you can appreciate it because people put it out there,” she said.
The Nooks and Crannies Festival runs from July 17 to Aug. 28, with the temporary public art installations tucked around downtown Okotoks.
There is a scavenger hunt element to take part in, with a Nooks and Crannies map and passport available on Okotoks.ca
More information can be found here.
