Airdrie resident donates public art installation

The Chinook Winds firehall will soon be home to a large installation of public art.

Airdrie’s Koos De Jongh donated the art installation entitled “The Collaboration Project 2012.”

De Jongh told Airdrie City council on May 22 that he was motivated to donate the work because of his love for the city.

“Public art is nice in a vibrant city, and I think we can all agree Airdrie is a vibrant city,” said De Jongh. “The art community is growing and I want to be a part of it. This (art) is worth being on the wall, not in my basement.”

The piece is made up of 22 paintings organized into three distinct panels. The centre piece is 100 inches by 100 inches, holds 16 individual printings of varied depths, and the left and right pieces are 100 inches wide by 36” high and contain three paintings each.

The colourful panels are connected by dotted lines representing the ability to reach out and collaborate with people and communities across the street or across the globe.

De Jongh, a member of Creative Airdrie, was raised in the Netherlands and moved to Airdrie in 2009. He began his art career in 2005 working with soapstone sculptures.

Two years later, he moved to canvas, using acrylics and mixed mediums to create his abstract paintings.

Micheal McAllister, community developer with the City of Airdrie, said staff determined the firehall would be the best location for the piece.

“With the space that we allocated for the entrance, it is quite a focal point,” said McAllister.

“It just made sense… the location is fabulous.”

Council voted unanimously in favour of having the artwork installed, although Alderman Ron Chapman expressed disappointment that it wouldn’t be viewed on the weekend or evenings, as the firehall is closed at those times.

“If there does become a point where there is more public space available in the evening or on the weekend, I would be open to moving it,” said Chapman.