{"data":{"id":"7bcbac20-9893-4d42-b7f0-626290c938d8","originKind":"SYNDICATED","title":"An enthused tour of the best of The Works Art & Design Festival 2026","summary":"Running through Canada Day, The Works Art & Design Festival has turned Churchill Square and beyond into a giant outdoor gallery, music venue and marketplace.\n\nWhile more modest this year without a splashy, epic-scale centrepiece, dozens of artworks and daily concerts have injected the fest’s annual shot of life running all the way back to its inception in 1986.\n\nWhile last year’s pigeon motel on the square is forever going to be a high water mark, once the rain let up, I did my annual walkthough this week to find five standout new pieces and actually came up with eight, so let’s dive in!\n\nâmô by Clinton Minault on Churchill Square\n\nMade of repurposed aluminum pop cans and other recycled materials, this megabee is A+, celebrating kinship between animals and humans. The new piece accompanies Minault’s also-on-display previous, buffalo-inspired works in The Works’ collection, the best of which are Jill Stanton’s giant Supergarden flowers for the bee to sniff around in when no one’s looking.\n\nNot Alone as Such by Diana Ohiozebau at Stanley Milner Library\n\nThese bright, high-contrast acrylic-painted tapestries draw you right in with dynamic shapes and multiple eyes, a celebration of Ohiozebau’s African heritage. “I work with Aso-oke fabrics,” the artist explains, “a traditional handwoven textile of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria, known for its rich texture, bold patterns and durability.”\n\nAnonymous Edmontonians by Jared Epp on Churchill Square\n\nBringing his 2021 packing tape and plastic full-scale humans down from the trees into an interactive set of figures to write on, Epp invites us to become graffiti co-creators, which has spawned everything from messages that Jesus loves you to the odd wiener tag. One of my favourite scenes was a guy in the beer gardens sitting at a table seemingly having an argument with two of them.\n\nThe Aesthetics of Collision by Robert Dmytruk at Don Wheaton YMCA\n\nSometimes a series just hits you with inexplicable joy, which is what I felt looking at these complex and exuberant Tron light cylces on acid made by my junior high art teacher who taught me how to do cross hatching and let me and my buddy Steve Hall do a mural outside the art room. The energy and noise of these pieces is well worth navigating the absolute mess of construction outside the Y, in a way accidentally responding to the chaos.\n\nPast to Present: Here to Stay by Jared Quinney on Churchill Square\n\nFor sure my favourite paintings this year, Quinney’s folk-art-y nature scenes go all the way back to the dinosaur age with a head-on warning that, as Carmella Soprano put it, “Everything ends, Tony.” Pure delight, don’t miss these beauties by this Saddle Lake artist who’s been part of the amazing Nina Haggerty community for the past eight years.\n\nCrown of Fire by Arcana Shanks on Churchill Square\n\nRepresenting 731,634 hectares of human-caused fires during the 2011 Alberta wildfire season, this hanging, scorched birch forest is one of the fest’s larger scale and most thoughtful immersive pieces which you can actually smell if you get close enough. These ghosts dancing in the wind is a reminder to be grateful for all the rain we’ve had this June, much better than toxic orange skies … knock on wood.\n\nNiwapahkwanin//I See Flowers When I Close My Eyes by Sharon Rose Kootenay on Churchill Square\n\nLeaning into the design aspect of the fest, Metis bead worker Kootenay’s nature-riffing quilts are simply gorgeous, and her poetry on display is worth a read, too. As she puts it, “I come from a matriarchal worldview and often relate as a mother, daughter, or sister. These identities have come through strongly in my work. At this later stage in my life, I feel that it is important to also acknowledge the romantic relationships that have sustained me and helped me to grow, as an empowered woman.”\n\nLiving Portraits curated by Darren Jordan\n\nA series of stunning portraits of Black artists in Edmonton on a wavy sculptural wall designed by Shoko Cesar, 5 Artists 1 love majordomo Jordan has created an epic monument to a vibrant slice of our artistic zeitgeist. What’s more, QR codes on the backside (where everyone is smiling and less serious) have the portrait subjects explain who they are and what inspires them. An amazing piece of journalism, really, and worth the security pat down to get in.\n\nfgriwkowsky@postmedia.com\n\n@fisheyefoto.bsky.social\n\nRelated Remember the humans? Broken Social Scene returns with first album since 2017\n\n'Kill them with monsters': Dungeons and Dragons lore deep in Edmonton\n\nBookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.\n\nYou can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.","url":"https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/the-works-art-design-festival-edmonton-2","imageUrl":"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/0627-you-quinney-2.jpg","publishedAt":"2026-06-25T19:55:57.000Z","sourceLabel":"Edmonton Journal Music","tags":["Entertainment","Festivals","Local Arts"],"authorName":"Fish Griwkowsky","contentHtml":"\"Past

Running through Canada Day, The Works Art & Design Festival has turned Churchill Square and beyond into a giant outdoor gallery, music venue and marketplace.

While more modest this year without a splashy, epic-scale centrepiece, dozens of artworks and daily concerts have injected the fest’s annual shot of life running all the way back to its inception in 1986.

While last year’s pigeon motel on the square is forever going to be a high water mark, once the rain let up, I did my annual walkthough this week to find five standout new pieces and actually came up with eight, so let’s dive in!

âmô by Clinton Minault on Churchill Square

Made of repurposed aluminum pop cans and other recycled materials, this megabee is A+, celebrating kinship between animals and humans. The new piece accompanies Minault’s also-on-display previous, buffalo-inspired works in The Works’ collection, the best of which are Jill Stanton’s giant Supergarden flowers for the bee to sniff around in when no one’s looking.

\"

Not Alone as Such by Diana Ohiozebau at Stanley Milner Library

These bright, high-contrast acrylic-painted tapestries draw you right in with dynamic shapes and multiple eyes, a celebration of Ohiozebau’s African heritage. “I work with Aso-oke fabrics,” the artist explains, “a traditional handwoven textile of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria, known for its rich texture, bold patterns and durability.”

\"

Anonymous Edmontonians by Jared Epp on Churchill Square

Bringing his 2021 packing tape and plastic full-scale humans down from the trees into an interactive set of figures to write on, Epp invites us to become graffiti co-creators, which has spawned everything from messages that Jesus loves you to the odd wiener tag. One of my favourite scenes was a guy in the beer gardens sitting at a table seemingly having an argument with two of them.

\"

The Aesthetics of Collision by Robert Dmytruk at Don Wheaton YMCA

Sometimes a series just hits you with inexplicable joy, which is what I felt looking at these complex and exuberant Tron light cylces on acid made by my junior high art teacher who taught me how to do cross hatching and let me and my buddy Steve Hall do a mural outside the art room. The energy and noise of these pieces is well worth navigating the absolute mess of construction outside the Y, in a way accidentally responding to the chaos.

\"

Past to Present: Here to Stay by Jared Quinney on Churchill Square

For sure my favourite paintings this year, Quinney’s folk-art-y nature scenes go all the way back to the dinosaur age with a head-on warning that, as Carmella Soprano put it, “Everything ends, Tony.” Pure delight, don’t miss these beauties by this Saddle Lake artist who’s been part of the amazing Nina Haggerty community for the past eight years.

\"

Crown of Fire by Arcana Shanks on Churchill Square

Representing 731,634 hectares of human-caused fires during the 2011 Alberta wildfire season, this hanging, scorched birch forest is one of the fest’s larger scale and most thoughtful immersive pieces which you can actually smell if you get close enough. These ghosts dancing in the wind is a reminder to be grateful for all the rain we’ve had this June, much better than toxic orange skies … knock on wood.

\"

Niwapahkwanin//I See Flowers When I Close My Eyes by Sharon Rose Kootenay on Churchill Square

Leaning into the design aspect of the fest, Metis bead worker Kootenay’s nature-riffing quilts are simply gorgeous, and her poetry on display is worth a read, too. As she puts it, “I come from a matriarchal worldview and often relate as a mother, daughter, or sister. These identities have come through strongly in my work. At this later stage in my life, I feel that it is important to also acknowledge the romantic relationships that have sustained me and helped me to grow, as an empowered woman.”

\"

Living Portraits curated by Darren Jordan

A series of stunning portraits of Black artists in Edmonton on a wavy sculptural wall designed by Shoko Cesar, 5 Artists 1 love majordomo Jordan has created an epic monument to a vibrant slice of our artistic zeitgeist. What’s more, QR codes on the backside (where everyone is smiling and less serious) have the portrait subjects explain who they are and what inspires them. An amazing piece of journalism, really, and worth the security pat down to get in.

\"

fgriwkowsky@postmedia.com

@fisheyefoto.bsky.social

Related

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

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