March 19-Art at Work installation

This is a close up of the "Art at Work" installation at the City of Regina's 4th Avenue Public Works Yard. The gates to the yard are made of cut sheet metal, of city workers in various poses; they in turn are topped with smaller sheet metal figures of citizens doing everyday activities. This is one of the smaller figurines of a skateboarder. I've search the City's website and their archived website on thew way back machine to try and find out who the artist is, but no luck. If anyone can tell me, I'll add his name here.

The gates were installed as part of an "Art at Work" initiative to help celebrate Regina being designated as the Cultural Capital of Canada in 2004. According to the Saskatchewan Arts Board, "(the) innovative Art at Work program (was a program) that would see professional artists working within the business environment...Ten Regina workplaces recruited artists to animate their diverse organizations with the goal of making Regina one of the most compelling places to work in Canada...The project nurtured the creative spirit in all Regina residents and exemplified the benefits of creating partnerships between the arts and other sectors."

March 18-Sunrise on Regina

I usually take a back road to get into the downtown area. The sun was rising Thursday and painting the buildings downtown with a golden paintbrush.

As soon as I took this picture, the clouds rolled in and the day became dark and dreary. Snow fell, and instead of golden, the Queen City is covered in a thin blanket of white.

March 17 -FNU Student drawing

Liberal Opposition Leader, Michael Ignatieff, was at the first Nations University campus Wednesday, vowing to continue the fight to restore funding to the university (see Leader Post newspaper article on the event.)

When I came to class later that afternoon, I saw this drawing left behind by someone ... probably a student. I am including it in this blog because it shows what is happening and how some people are feeling in Regina over this issue ... and I wanted this blog to be a photographic record of Regina and its people in 2010.

I took a close up of the artist's name and his/her drawing before the caretaker came by and threw this drawing in the garbage. Who ever you are, you should be a political cartoon artist; you are that GOOD! (I can barely draw a stick person.)

UPDATE: The artist's name is Adam Martin!

March 16-Regina Lace Sculpture

This series of statues are part of a larger art installation in the Queen Elizabeth II Courtyard at City Hall.

The statues, which look like copper covered with verdigris, are not complete...they only show the front half, or one side of the person...the rest of the statue is an empty, ragged void. When you first see the installation (created by Canadian artists Stephen Braithwaite and Douglas Bamford), you don't notice that the statues are only half there...it's only when you get closer do you see the whole picture. Apparently they are cast from molds of real people too!

For information about Regina Lace, visit the city's website and read about the project under Culture & Arts.

March 15-Holy Rosary Cathedral

Woo hoo. Found my camera...so now I have two. I was going to post this last weekend, but I couldn't find my camera.

This is a shot of the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Regina. It is a Roman Catholic church. It was a dominant feature in early Regina, so dominant that they named the neighbourhood that surrounded it the "Cathedral Neighbourhood."

It has lovely stained glass windows, but not as nice as the ones found in St. Mary's Church. For information about the history of the building or the services offered to its congregation, go to the Cathedral's website.

March 14-Metal Art Gazebo, U of R

This is one of 6 panels that make up a 'gazebo' art sculpture on the shores of Wascana Lake adjacent to north University Drive (by the AdHum Building.)

I couldn't find any indication who created this magnificent piece of artwork while I was taking the picture; nor could I find any reference to it online. however, it looks very much like a Joe Fafard piece, so I will mention his name here and encourage you to go to this ArtSask website to see entries and other pieces by him in Regina.

When I find out the name of the artist who created this, I will update this post.

March 13-Archer Library, U of R

Rio Daily Photos had a beautiful photo of St. Peter's Cathedral displaying the Gothic arches.

The only place that I know of that has similar arches in Regina is at the University of Regina. Since I have been studying there all week, I thought the post for Saturday could show the Gothic arches that are found in the Dr. John Archer Library.

For more information about the Library, go to the U of R's website.