Banff Trail Blackfoot Art Installation

Community-Initiated Microgrant 2021

Four sculptures outside the Banff Community Association. Each sculpture is of a feather, and each features a unique animal: an eagle, a bear, a bison and a wolf.

The Banff Trail Community Association invited artist Irvin Tom Manyguns to create an outdoor sculpture meant to deepen connections with the Siksika Nation and celebrate Blackfoot culture.

Four sculptures outside the Banff Community Association. Each sculpture is of a feather, and each features a unique animal: an eagle, a bear, a bison and a wolf.

The Banff Trail Community Association invited artist Irvin Tom Manyguns to create an outdoor sculpture meant to deepen connections with the Siksika Nation and celebrate Blackfoot culture.

Three men sit in front of four sculptures. Each sculpture is of a feather, and each features a unique animal: an eagle, a bear, a bison and a wolf.

The Banff Trail Community Association invited artist Irvin Tom Manyguns to create an outdoor sculpture meant to deepen connections with the Siksika Nation and celebrate Blackfoot culture.

Four sculptures outside the Banff Community Association. Each sculpture is of a feather, and each features a unique animal: an eagle, a bear, a bison and a wolf.
Four sculptures outside the Banff Community Association. Each sculpture is of a feather, and each features a unique animal: an eagle, a bear, a bison and a wolf.
Three men sit in front of four sculptures. Each sculpture is of a feather, and each features a unique animal: an eagle, a bear, a bison and a wolf.
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Title:

Banff Trail Blackfoot Art Installation

Project Completion:

2022

Medium:

Sculpture

Location:

Banff Trail Community Association, 2115 20th Ave. NW

Artist(s):

Irvin Tom Manyguns, Banff Trail Community Association

The Project

The Banff Trail Community Association invited artist Irvin Tom Manyguns to create an outdoor sculpture meant to deepen connections with the Siksika Nation and celebrate Blackfoot culture. Manyguns created four feathers, painted in the colours of the medicine wheel and engraved with animals sacred to the Blackfoot: the wolf, the buffalo, the eagle and the bear. Banff Trail Community Association combined its annual Harvest Festival with an art reveal to celebrate this piece with a feast, drumming and dancing.

The 2021 Community-Run Microgrant

This project was funded as part of the 2021 Community-Run Microgrant. Calgary Arts Development invited proposals for community-initiated public art projects in 2021. Community groups could apply for up to $10,000 from a total funding pool of $100,000, to hire local artists for eligible projects. Funding for this one-time program was provided through the Government of Alberta and The City of Calgary.

Learn more here.

More Information

Our Commitment to Equity

Our commitment to Indigenous reconciliation, racial equity, disability justice, and gender and sexual diversity.

We acknowledge that the land we gather on, Mohkinsstsis, is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations. Today this land is home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Districts 5 and 6 as well as many First Nations and Inuit from across Turtle Island.

We acknowledge that there has been art, music, dance, storytelling and ceremony on this land since time immemorial and it is in the spirit of this land and its people that we do our work.

Please see our full Commitment to Equity, including the sections on our aspirations, accountability, current initiatives and EDIA history.