A beautification project designed to perk up Okotoks parks and deter vandalism is heading into a second phase.
In 2019, the Town partnered with students from Alberta High School of Fine Arts to have unique designs painted on some of its outdoor washroom facilities to discourage vandals from spray-painting the facility walls.
This month, voting is open on artwork for the Potty Project: Number Two, which will have another five outdoor toilet buildings painted this summer. The 23 pieces were submitted in the fall of 2019 to be painted last year, but the project was postponed due to COVID-19.
Allan Boss, culture and heritage manager for the Town, said the first phase of the project was successful in reducing vandalism.
“The washrooms we had painted have all been well-respected,” said Boss. “There’s some ownership that happens and community pride – the youth are looking at the space and saying, ‘This is something my friend beautified.’
“There’s something at stake.”
In the second phase, facilities at Cimarron Park, the BMX track, behind the tennis courts on Tower Hill, in Sheep River Park south of the Laurie Boyd Bridge, and in the dog park will be painted.
Boss said besides preventing vandalism and saving taxpayer dollars by reducing the amount of clean-up the Town does, there are other benefits to the Potty Project.
“It creates place-making in our community, it beautifies our parks, it creates a unique Okotoks identity, it gives young students an opportunity to learn teamwork and an opportunity to build their resumes, and to be part of the community and have an understanding that public art and culture really contributes to making our community a better place to live,” he said.
AHSFA art teacher Michelle Smyth said it’s a great opportunity for students to showcase their work in public, and also provides some important life skills.
“The application process itself is a good thing for them to participate in – deadlines, expectations, things like that – so it teaches them a lot of valuable lessons,” said Smyth.
It’s also a lesson in grace, she said. Students learn how handle not being selected but still show excitement and appreciation for their friends and classmates.
In addition, it’s a way for Smyth to connect deeper with her art students.
“I get to know them better,” she said. “There are probably five or six of us who go out and I get to build a closer relationship with them.”
Voting on submitted designs closes Feb. 8 and the washrooms will be painted in the spring or summer of 2021.
To view the artwork and enter votes, visit www.okotoks.ca/pap
