We’ve written here before about the trials of the Great Divide Waterfall that used to spill from the High-Level Bridge during the summer, by artist Peter Lewis. The Edmonton Journal reports that Mayor Mandel and the City Council want to hear from residents before deciding whether to refurbish it so it can run again, in an environmentally-friendly way:
Mayor Stephen Mandel said he also wants to know if people care about the waterfall. He has mixed feelings about resurrecting the project and suspects most Edmontonians would be fine if it went dry forever.
“Hopefully, we’ll hear from citizens,” Mandel said. “If we get a lot of positive comments, maybe it will move ahead. If we get nobody calling, then we really don’t have any public support for it.”
Do you have strong feelings about this landmark? Read the article and call 311 to give your viewpoint to the city.
mastermaq:
(via City can’t guarantee High Level Bridge waterfall will ever flow again)
“The tap is likely to be turned off again this year on the High Level Bridge’s Great Divide waterfall, and city officials can’t guarantee it will ever start flowing.”
Although the Edmonton Journal didn’t mention it, this Edmonton landmark is one of our most visible public artworks, commissioned based on a proposal by artist Peter Lewis. For some reason—perhaps its popularity—the “Great Divide Waterfall” is often not seen in those terms.
It’s quite a juxtaposition, compared to the other public art controversy happening this month, also making the rounds on tumblr:
maybeedmonton:
<3
sappyapple:
Hey fellow Edmontonians,
Take a look at the blog post my uncle Ryan posted last month. And for a real hoot of a time, be sure to read the comments. Just click on the link below.
Reading David Staples’ article today in the Edmonton Journal regarding his rectally-derived opinions on “Talus Dome”, the $600,000 bauble at the side of Quesnel Bridge, I was compelled to respond to his nonsense.
The loudest voice is local artist Ryan McCourt—familiar to Latitude 53 regulars after submitting this image anonymously to last year’s National Portrait Gallery show and then complaining about it (the show also included Trevor Anderson addressing the bridge and waterfall itself, which you can see a later version of on his website). But alongside his browbeating of Journal writer David Staples, he points out that he isn’t alone in finding the work problematic. While the “Great Divide Waterfall” is forgotten as an artwork and considered part of the local architecture, “Talus Dome” is the work of American architects and is, in the eyes of its critics, just a pile of building materials. But, like the waterfall, it is also expensive.
What do these scandals say about the future of public art in Edmonton? Can we imagine a future when now-controversial projects like “Talus Dome” or the world’s largest Baseball Bat are as beloved as the “Great Divide Waterfall”?
