I’m still getting used to having Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver as my extended long weekend city destinations rather than Montreal and Toronto when I lived in the east. Even though it was a quick visit for my first ever time in Calgary back in June, the city left a great impression on me and I think I’ll be bumping Calgary up in the rotation when I’m craving some big city fun.

One of the reasons I left Calgary with an eye to returning was how visually appealing the downtown area was on a couple of aimless wandering hikes. And a huge reason for that was some very interesting art, including what was probably my favouite and most visually arresting piece I’ve seen this year – Wonderland by Jaume Plensa. It’s a piece I could instantly relate to as one representing imagination and dreams. I connected with this immediately because on my hiking around a new city, I’m always lost in my own mind and thoughts.

I hadn’t seen the work of Juame Plensa before visiting Calgary, but I’ve become a fan now that I’ve seen two of his pieces including this one, Alberta’s Dream. It’s a self-portrait of him hugging a tree (which, being in Alberta, made me chuckle). I also found it interesting that while there were many Alberta cities inscribed on the human form, “Edmonton” was written on his chest/heart and “Calgary” on his back. Is that a comment on the rivalry of the two cities? That the piece is tucked away and can easily be missed while walking by the building also made me question what commentary was being made by this work. I think it might be a sheepish, almost passive aggressive commentary on Alberta’s industrial vs. environmental focus.

Significantly lower brow, but as much fun for my first visit was this storey and a half tall folk art statue of former Calgary Flames player Lanny McDonald. I love it for the hat, I love it for the old (and best) Flames sweater, and I love it for the accurate moustache reproduction. Brilliant!

On my way for a walk along the Bow River, In Search of Gold Mountain by Chu Honsun made me stop and circle it. Fifteen tonnes of granite was carved to illustrate the story of Chinese settlement in Canada. Visually, I liked the play of what from its iconography looks modern, is situated in a modern environment of glass and steel, yet tells a long, historic story of immigration.

Now that I live in Saskatchewan, a summer visit to the Calgary Stampede is on my bucket list. As I walked downtown, I was thinking about what the city would be like during its signature festival when I came across this mechanical looking horse. I’m not sure if it’s in relation to the Stampede or not, but that’s where my mind went.

Across the Bow River from downtown on St. Patrick’s Island is Bloom by Michel de Broin. I would have liked to have had the time to see this closer and to have seen it illuminated at night – its clusters of streetlights at the ends of each axis was something I didn’t immediately notice until I was staring at it wondering about the asymmetry of its overall shape.

A little later on during that walk along the river, underneath a number of highway overpasses were murals of animals in vast country/rural landscape. Curtis Van Charles Sorensen’s Window To The Wild animated what could have been a very dreary urban setting.

And while I’m not sure what the large lettering and small lanterns scattered in an urban park were meant to represent, it was a great example for me of why I was enjoying my time so much in Calgary. Yes, I was in a big city. But art like this installation makes you stop, to think, and gives a more identifiable sense of place on a small scale.

Calgary was that for me – big but approachable, sprawling, but a city of approachable neighbourhoods – and I’m already looking forward to coming back soon.