Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

KNIT LEAVES

Date

2017

Materials

WOOL, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

3

Length

130.5

Width

10.1

Description

A. KNIT LEAVES HANGING ART, 130.5CM L X 10.1CM W; STRAND HAS SEVEN MULTICOLOUR AND OMBRE RED, ORANGE, YELLOWS, GREEN, BLUE, AND PURPLE LEAVES; BOTTOM OF STRAD HAS ORANGE FLOWER TIED ON. LOWEST LEAF ON STRAND HAS THREE BUTTONS OF RED, BLACK, AND ORANGE PLASTIC. LEAVES ARE ALL TIED TOGETHER; EDGES OF LEAVES CURL IN; OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. CROCHET OR KNIT?] LEAVES B. KNIT LEAF FOR HANGING STRAND, 15.1CM L X 10CM W; LEAF IS COMPRISED OF BLUE AND GREEN OMBRE YARN. LEAF IS TIED AT TOP; OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. C. KNIT LEAF FOR HANGING STRAND, 13.5 L X 7.8 W; LEAF IS COMPRISED OF BRIGHT GREEN YARN. LEAF IS TIED AT TOP; OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

DECORATIVE ARTS

COMMEMORATIVE

History

ON JULY 25, 2019, GALT MUSEUM CURATOR AIMEE BENOIT AND COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED ELISABETH HEGERAT REGARDING HER DONATION OF PRIDE MATERIALS. ON THE HANGING LEAF ART, HEGERAT NOTED, “THE KNIT PIECES WERE PART OF A WINTER DISPLAY AT SHANNON PHILLIPS [M.L.A. CONSTITUENCY] OFFICE, AS PART OF PRIDE FESTS DOWN TOWN BUSINESS DECORATING CONTEST IN 2017. ONE OF THE ASSISTANTS IN [SHANNON PHILLIP'S] OFFICE, NATASHA FAIRWEATHER, IS ALSO A CROCHETER AND SHE HAD BEEN INVOLVED WITH A PUBLIC YARN BOMBING PROJECT DOWN AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY THE YEAR BEFORE FOR THE WORD ON THE STREET FESTIVAL. THEY DECIDED THEY WOULD ASK PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY TO CONTRIBUTE KNITTING/CROCHET LEAVES, FLOWERS AND OTHER THINGS TO DO A RAINBOW DISPLAY FOR THEIR WINTER DISPLAY (WHICH IS HOW SHE GOT IN TOUCH WITH ME). THERE WAS A LOVELY LITTLE WRITE UP, WHICH I THINK I INCLUDED, ABOUT COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY EFFORT AND MANY SMALL THINGS TOGETHER ADDING UP TO A LARGER WHOLE, WHICH WAS THE THEME OF THE WHOLE PIECE. I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE SHE ASKED TO CONTRIBUTE. I KNIT A WHOLE BUNCH OF LEAVES…NOT ALL THE PIECES HAVE MADE IT HERE, BUT SOME OF THE LEAVES I KNIT ARE HERE…WHEN NATASHA MOVED AWAY TO VANCOUVER EARLIER THIS YEAR, SHE ASKED IF I WANTED TO TAKE OVER THE LEFTOVERS BECAUSE SHE KNEW I WOULD FIND SOMETHING TO DO WITH THEM, AND HERE THEY ARE.” “PRIDE FEST FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS HAS RUN A BUSINESS WINDOW DECORATING COMPETITION DURING PRIDE MONTH. I THINK THE RESULTS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS ARE ON THE PRIDE FEST WEBSITE RIGHT NOW. I KNOW IT WAS RUNNING FOR AT LEAST THREE OF FOUR YEARS. IT DIDN’T HAPPEN [IN 2018] BUT IT MIGHT HAPPEN AGAIN THIS YEAR [IN 2019]. A LOT OF THE DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES PARTICIPATE AND THERE HAS BEEN ONE OR TWO—I THINK IT WAS BUBBLES CAR WASH—THAT ARE OUTSIDE OF THE DOWNTOWN CORE THAT ALSO DID SOMETHING AS WELL.” “I THINK [THE KNIT AND CROCHET PROJECT] WAS JUST AN INVITE ONLY, PEOPLE THAT NATASHA KNOW COULD PARTICIPATE. PROBABLY NOT ANY EXCLUSIVITY REASON, BUT JUST FOR THE SAKE OF EASILY MANAGING THE PROJECT…I DECIDED TO TAKE PART BECAUSE I SUPPORTED THE POLITICIAN WHO WAS DOING IT AND BEING A KNITTER, I THOUGHT IT WAS NEAT THAT [PRIDE] WAS [THE] THEME THAT THEY CHOSE. I ALSO HAD BUNCH OF LEFT-OVER SCRAP YARN IN VARIOUS COLORS THAT I COULD USE UP IF I DID THIS, AND I HAD A PATTERN WHICH I COULD WHIP STUFF UP REALLY QUICKLY.” “[I CHOSE LEAVES] PARTLY BECAUSE I FOUND A PATTERN THAT I LIKED THAT LOOKED OKAY, AND THAT I COULD DO RELATIVELY QUICKLY, AND PARTLY BECAUSE IT FIT THE THEME NATASHA ASKED FOR. HONESTLY, ALL THE FLOWER PATTERNS I FOUND WERE TOO FINICKY AND DIDN’T LOOK THAT GREAT. IT WAS MOSTLY THE AESTHETICS…I THINK THERE WERE ABOUT EIGHT OR NINE [PEOPLE WHO CONTRIBUTED]. THERE WERE A BUNCH OF US AROUND THE TABLE WHEN IT CAME TO STARTING TO PUT STUFF TOGETHER, AND I KNOW A FEW PEOPLE JUST DROPPED STUFF OFF…I THINK MOST PEOPLE DID THEIR STUFF INDIVIDUALLY, ALTHOUGH I THINK THERE WAS ONE EVENING WHERE WE DID GET TOGETHER AT THE TENTH AT SHANNON’S OFFICE, BUT I COULD BE GETTING IT MIXED UP WITH WHEN WE PUT THINGS UP.” “[OUR GROUP] DID NOT WIN THE PRIZE. SOMEBODY ELSE WON…I THINK IT WAS ONCE UPON A BRIDE THAT YEAR. AND IF I AM REMEMBERING RIGHT, THEY DID A GORGEOUS, VERY ELABORATE DISPLAY WITH RAINBOW PATTERNS BEHIND THE WEDDING DRESSES, MADE WITH STRING PULLED INTO STRAIGHT LINES AND TRIANGLES. HOWEVER, I THOUGHT THAT THE THEME FOR THIS ONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN “GIVE THEM MORE WEIGHT WE SHOULD HAVE WON.” THERE WERE A LOT OF COOL ENTRIES, I AM NOT BITTER.” IN AN INTERVIEW WITH HEGERAT FROM JULY 25, 2019, HEGERAT RECALLED HER TIME WORKING WITH THE LETHBRIDGE PRIDE FEST SOCIETY, NOTING, “I THINK IT WAS 2016 THAT I FIRST STARTED VOLUNTEERING WITH THE PRIDE BOARD…WHEN WE MOVED HERE IN 2006…PRIDE IN THE PARK DIDN’T EXIST, OR THE PARADE, OR ANYTHING ELSE. THERE WAS A BARBECUE, AND WE NEVER REALLY WENT TO IT, BECAUSE WE DIDN’T KNOW ANYBODY…WE KNEW WE COULD SHOW UP AND PEOPLE WOULD BE GLAD WE WERE THERE, AND EVERYTHING ELSE, BUT IT STILL KIND OF FELT LIKE WE WOULD HAVE BEEN CRASHING SOMEBODY’S FAMILY BARBECUE, BECAUSE WE DIDN’T KNOW ANYONE.” “WHEN PRIDE IN THE PARK STARTED, I KNOW THERE WERE A COUPLE OF YEARS WHERE WE WANDERED OVER AND CHECKED IT OUT, AND EVERYTHING ELSE, BUT [I] DIDN’T REALLY KNOW ANYBODY. WHEN, I THINK IT WAS 2015, [ONE OF THE PRIDE IN THE PARK PROGRAMS] WAS THEY HAD AN AUTHOR FROM CALGARY, A POET, COME AND DO A READING…WE WENT, AND WE LISTENED TO HER READ, AND I KNOW THE PEOPLE AT THE U OF L BOOKSTORE QUITE WELL THROUGH DOING LIBRARY STUFF, AND SO WAS HANGING OUT WITH BECKY COLBECK, AND KARI TANAKA, AND ONE OF THEIR BOOKSTORE STAFF, NICK ANTSON—HE AND HIS HUSBAND, DERRICK, WERE ON THE PRIDE BOARD. SO I ENDED UP TALKING WITH THEM, AND THEN STARTED THINKING…“MAYBE WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING AT THE LIBRARY NEXT YEAR.” AND THAT, AND SORT OF A FEW OTHER COMMITMENTS WITH WORK, AND A PUSH FROM THE LIBRARY TO GET MORE INVOLVED…IN THE COMMUNITY…I SHOWED UP FOR THE FIRST PRIDE FEST BOARD MEETING, AND JUST KEPT SHOWING UP…AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR IN, I THINK THE MEETING WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE OCTOBER, 2015, BUT IT WAS FOR THE 2016 PRIDE. SO, I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED AS A VOLUNTEER SINCE THEN, AND HAVE DONE SOME WORK LIAISING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN PRIDE FEST AND THE LIBRARY FOR PARTNER PROGRAMS…FOR 2019 PRIDE, I’M FINISHING MY FIRST TERM AS AN ELECTED BOARD MEMBER.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENENT FILE P20190020001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190020043

Acquisition Date

2019-07

Collection

Museum

Less detail