Young photographers are adding a splash of colour to the Rideau Canal.
But it’s mostly green that skaters are seeing.
The National Capital Commission chose 32 young Canadian artists to display their environment-themed photographs as part of the Eco Art exhibit on Dows Lake.
Dows Gallery was introduced last year, with an Urban Art theme. But only young, local artists were invited to participate.
“We want to have a youth perspective in the public art of our capital because they are the leaders of tomorrow,” says Daniel Feeny, spokesperson for the NCC. “Their perspective will influence the way we’re going to organize Canada’s capital.”
The 32 eight-foot-by-eight-foot canvases showcase how some youth view the environment and the issues surrounding it.
The NCC received over 100 submissions and selected 32 artists, aged 14 to 24, to take part in Dows Gallery. The artists hailed from coast to coast, but 20 of them call the capital region their home.
“It really seems like the NCC is very interested in youth and making the national capital region better for youth,” says Julien Strasfeld, one of the selected photographers.
His piece, Pines Pining, features “two baby pine trees that look like they could be planted but they certainly are not as they are in a concrete jungle just outside of an office building in downtown Ottawa.”
The bright green trees in the photo stand out against the grey cement and symbolize the need for more green space in urban areas.
“We need to see more of it. It’s better for our health, better for our minds, better for the environment,” said the Centretown resident.
Jana Sokolova’s photo also contrasts green on grey.
Stone Cold is a photo of rocks collaged together. The bland colours of the rocks represent the inhumanity that so many people have, explains the 17-year-old Canterbury High School student.
“A lot of people can be really cold and today’s society is really cold and we don’t take things to heart anymore. No one really cares.”
The photograph was taken in Gatineau Park and was originally intended for a photography project Sokolova was working on.
The work was inspired by witnessing a man collapse on the street and the ignorance from passers-by.
Sokolova saw this from a distance and couldn’t believe that people weren’t reacting or helping.
“That man could have been hurt, could have had a heart attack, died right there, ruptured from inside and everyone just strolled around like nothing was wrong,” says the Grade 12 student.
She took the cold, human environment and represented it through nature.
Although the story behind her work is dark, the bright green brings light to the photo.
“The green coming out of the rocks is more like life. We can find some people that can be warm and compassionate.”
The artwork on the canal enhances skaters’ experience and showcases the nation’s youth, says Feeny. Once the ice melts, the NCC plans to give the photographs “a second life” by displaying them during other Ottawa events in the summer.
“We are taking youth perspective, not only in our decisions, but to decorate the city, to put some youth in our capital and through art, it’s just wonderful.”