The town is wrapping up construction of the future Cornerstone Art Commons at the corner of 46th Street and 65th Avenue.
Doug Wagstaff, director of community services says the first artwork to be installed at the new outdoor public space will be some of the portraits from the Eye of the Lens project.
Eye of the Lens was a project that had the town partnering with local photographers to collect self-portraits that capture Olds and area’s Canadian perspective.
“We are planning to put that in before the end of September,” said Wagstaff.
The town is still working to secure the rights for a Bergen Rocks sculpture. The town anticipates having the sculpture on loan for three to five years.
“Throughout the summers of 2008 and 2009, professional sculptors from around the world came to stay and create sculpture at Morton Burke’s farm near Bergen,” Wagstaff said.
While larger infrastructure is the priority for the town they still feel it is important to work on projects like the commons.
“While our focus has been on major infrastructure projects we continue to arrange to work in the smaller projects around work being done around the town,” Wagstaff said.
One of the biggest challenges in getting the art commons up and going is ensuring Canadian Artists Representation Le Front Des Artistes Canadiens (CARFAC) best practice guidelines are followed.
“It is not a legal necessity but we want to respect the work of visual artists and foster a culture that supports artists.”
“We are excited to be able to share some of this work in our cultural pathway; we intend to have this in place this fall.”
