Lloydminster council has once again shot down a request to put up new art at the Bioclean Aquatic Centre.
The funding request would pull $50,000 in contingency funds to fund the procurement, fabrication, transportation and installation of a new three-dimensional sculpture at the Bioclean Aquatic Centre.
The funds would come from the Recreation and Culture Capital Reserve.
The original two-dimensional artwork was located on the south wall of the aquatic centre. When it was taken down due to rehabilitation of the building, it was deemed to be at the end of its serviceable life and unable to reattach to the new building cladding.
The piece, named Ekecheira, was installed on the south-facing wall to commemorate the 2010 Olympics. The piece was developed during Laura Hale’s Artist-in-residence from 2008 - 2011 and removed multiple times to accommodate maintenance to the building’s exterior.
During the question-and-answer period, Coun. Michael Diachuk raised the question about the project having a contingency for the artwork to come down and go back up.
“The two parts around this particular scenario of question for me are, if the art project was initially part of the renovation, we’re now treating it differently, and I’m just wondering why we are, and secondly, if that is being treated differently, I haven’t heard a good enough reason why it is being treated differently,” said Diachuk.
City administration said there was money in the project for the piece to be taken down and put back up during the process, but it was found to be unsalvageable and needed to be decommissioned.
Coun. David Lopez would like to see new art continue to capture the memory of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
“I almost feel like it has to be something that commemorates that Olympic spirit again, not something that some artist wants to put up that doesn’t depict what this art was before-hand,” said Lopez.
“That building is a very big grey wall right now, walking through Bud Miller All Season Park, you see that big wall and there’s really no colour and no life on that side of the building.”
After further discussion regarding the funding sources of the project, administration recommended council make a motion to bring it back to a future meeting.
Council passed the motion to postpone the public art advisory committee request to a future meeting.
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