Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MAQUETTE

Date

1985

No. Pieces

2

Length

178.2

Width

61.5

Description

10 SEPARATE PAINTED PANELS GLUED SIDE BY SIDE MAKE UP THE MURAL, THEY IN TURN ARE GLUED ONTO A LARGE SHEET OF STRYOFOAM. TYPE WRITTEN DESCRIPTION IS GLUED ABOVE INDIVIDUAL PANEL. WHITE LABEL/BLACK LETTERING "SIR ALEXANDER GALT MUSEUM MURAL BRENT R. LAYCOCK" IN LOWER LEFT CORNER. VARIOUS COLORED PANELS DEPICT THE FOLLOWING: "GEOLOGY - PREHISTORIC PLANTS ARE BURIED AND TRANSFORMED INTO COAL. MOUNTAINS ARE TRUST UP, THE CLIMATE CHANGES, SNOW FALLS AND ICE-AGE GLACIERS CHANGE THE SURFACE OF THE PRAIRIE." "NATIVE INHABITANTS- THE INDIANS LIVED A NOMADIC LIFE, CAMPING IN TEEPEES AS THEY FOLLOWED THE HERDS OF BISON". INDIAN BATTLE - TWO WARRIORS REPRESENT VICTORY AND DEFEAT AT THE INDIAN BATTLE OF 1870 WHEN THE BLACKFOOT TRIBES DEVASTATED THE CREE." "FORT WHOOP-UP - OUTSIDE THE OLD FORT WITH ITS SMALL CANNON AND DISTINCTIVE FLAG, A GROUP OF INDIANS WAIT TO GET A BIT OF DANGEROUS WHISKEY. NEAR THE HORIZON, A "BULL TRAIN" HAULS MERCHANDISE TO THE FORT". "COAL MINING - MINING COAL BEGAN WITH THE SIMPLE DRIFT MINES CUT INTO THE COULEE BANKS. LATER, MORE SOPHISTICATED DEEP MINES WERE OPENED TO SUPPLY THE NEEDS OF THE CPR'S STEAM LOCOMOTIVES." "AGRICULTURE - PRAIRIE GRAIN FARMING HAS BEEN THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTOR IN THE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY OF THE DISTRICT. ABOVE THE MODERN COMBINE, THE MOST SIMPLE FARM IMPLEMENTS ARE SHOWN: SHOVEL, PITCH FORK, SCOOP SHOVEL, BEET HOE, PLOW SHARE, AND TWO TYPES OF SUBSURFACE CULTIVATOR BLADES USED TO PREVENT SOIL DRIFTING BY KEEPING TRASH COVER ON THE FIELD'S SURFACE. THE ELEVATORS STAND AS MONUMENTS TO THE HARVEST." "RAILWAY - THE CPR SUPPLIED LETHBRIDGE WITH MATERIALS AND EXPORTED THE DISTRICT'S COAL AND GRAIN TO THE WORLD. THER IMPRESSIVE HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE WAS BUILT TO SIMPLIFY THE CROSSING OF THE BROAD, DEEP COULEE." "ARMED FORCES - ONE OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MILITARY DURING WORLD WAR II WAS THE TRAINING OF AIR FORCE PILOTS USING TIGER MOTH PLANES AT KENYON FIELD." "BUILDINGS - PART OF THE CHARACTER AND IDENTITY OF A CITY COMES FROM ITS DISTINCTIVE BUILDINGS. THE RAILWAY STATION, THE POST OFFICE CLOCK TOWER AND THE OLD COURT HOUSE DISPLAY ORNATE AND UNUSUAL ARCHITECTURE. THE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE WAS IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF ITS FUNCTION, THE GOVERNMENT ELEVATOR BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE." "COMMUNITY - AN APPEALING ASPECT OF THE CITY IS ITS PLEASANT SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS WITH CLOSE ACCESS TO THE URBAN PARK SYSTEM ALONG THE OLDMAN RIVER AND OTHER AREAS SUCH AS THE JAPANESE GARDENS BY HENDERSON LAKE. THE FACES SHOWN THROUGHOUT THE MURAL ARE NOT THOSE OF PROMINENT CHARACTERS BUT SYMBOLIZE THE TYPICAL PEOPLE WHO MAKE UP THE CITY UNDER THE CHINOOK ARCH." "BRENT R. LAYCOCK" PAINTED IN BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER. .2 BIOGRAPHY. 31 CM. WTH. X 38 CM. LGTH. STYROFOAM. WHITE/BLACK. WHITE PAPER/BLACK LETTERING. BIOGRAPHY OF BRENT R. LAYCOCK. GLUED TO ARTISTS STYROFOAM. LISTS THE FOLLOWING: PERSONAL INFORMATION, EDUCATION, SOLO EXHIBITIONS, JURIED SOCIETY EXHIBITIONS, OTHER EXHIBITIONS, AWARDS, COMMISSIONS, MAJOR COLLECTIONS.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

SEE PROPOSAL ATTACHED. THIS MURAL AND PROPOSAL WERE NOT SELECTED BY THE URBAN PARKS-MUSEUM COMMITTEE IN THE 1985 COMPETITION, FOR THE MUSEUM VIEWING GALLERY. *UPDATE* IN 2015 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ABOUT THIS ARTIFACT WAS FOUND IN THE PROJECT PROPOSAL WRITTEN BY THE ARTIST, BRENT LAYCOCK, UPON ITS ENTRY INTO THE 1985 SIR ALEXANDER GALT MUSEUM MURAL COMPETITION. "THE MURAL IS CONSTRUCTED ON A STYLIZED VIEW OF THE COULEES, SURMOUNTED BY A BROAD CHINOOK ARCH. THE IDEA OF THIS PANORAMA IS TO RELFECT THE VIEW OF THE RIVER VALLEY AS SEEN FROM THE MUSEUM VIEWING GALLERY. AS THE WINDOW PANES OF THE GALLERY DIVIDE THE REAL LANDSCAPE INTO TEN VERTICAL PANELS, THE MURAL IS ALSO DIVIDED VERTICALLY INTO TEN VERTICAL PANELS. IN EACH PANEL, VISUAL MOTIFS FROM THE HISTORY OF LETHBRIDGE ARE WOVEN INTO THE TOTAL PANORAMA... THE MURAL IS DESIGNED TO BE 'READ' FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. JUST AS THE VIEWER PERCEIVES MORE AND MORE LIGHT AS HE TRAVELS DOWN THE CORRIDOR TO THE CURVED VIEWING AREA, THE PANELS OF THE MURAL CHANGE FROM DARK TO LIGHT, ENHANCING THE EFFECT AS THE VIEWER MOVES WEST... [THEMES DEPICTED INCLUDE] PREHISTORIC PLANTS ARE BURIED AND TRANSFORMED INTO COAL. MOUNTAINS ARE THRUST UP... ICE-AGE GLACIERS CHANGE THE SURFACE OF THE PRAIRIE... [FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES] LIVED A NOMADIC LIFE, CAMPING IN TEEPEES AS THEY FOLLOWED HERDS OF BISON... THE INDIAN BATTLE OF 1870 WHEN THE CREE SUFFERED A DEVESTATING DEFEAT AT THE HANDS OF THE BLACKFOOT TRIBES... THE OLD FORT WITH ITS SMALL CANNON AND 'AMERICAN-LOOKING' FLAG... SIMPLE DRIFT MINES CUT INTO THE COULEE BANKS... PRAIRIE GRAIN FARMING IMPLEMENTS... THE HIGH LEVEL BRIDGE... AIR FORCE PILOTS WERE TRAINED BY INSTRUCTORS USING TIGER MOTH PLANES AT KENYON FIELD... DISTINCTIVE HISTORICAL BUILDINGS... PLEASANT SUBURBAN NEIGHBOURHOODS WITH CLOSE ACCESS TO THE URBAN PARK SYSTEM ALONG THE OLDMAN RIVER [AND] THE JAPANESE GARDNES BY HENDERSON LAKE... THE FACES SHOWN THROUGHOUT THE MURAL ARE NOT THOSE OF PROMINENT CHARACTERS BY SYMBOLIZE THE TYPICAL PEOPLE IN ALL WALKS OF LIFE WHO MAKE UP THIS CITY UNDER THE CHINOOK ARCH." SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPY OF THE ARTIST'S FULL PROPOSAL. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARTIST, BRENT LAYCOCK, WAS EXCERPTED FROM HIS WEBSITE. BRENT R. LAYCOCK WAS BORN IN 1947 IN LETHBRIDGE, AND COMPLETED A MFA DEGREE IN PAINTING AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY. LAYCOCK RETURNED TO ALBERTA, TO ESTABLISH HIS CAREER AS A VISUAL ARTIST. HIS EARLY CAREER INCLUDED WORKING AS A GRAPHIC ARTIST FOR THE CALGARY BOARD OF EDUCATION AND FOR FREEMAN/YIPP ADVERTISING LTD. DURING THOSE EARLY YEARS, HE ALSO MAINTAINED A PRIVATE FINE ART STUDIO PRACTICE, WHICH EVENTUALLY BECAME A FULL-TIME OCCUPATION IN 1981. HIS PAINTINGS HAVE BEEN EXHIBITED AND COLLECTED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. LAYCOCK WORKS MAINLY IN WATERCOLOUR AND ACRYLIC AND EXPLORES LANDSCAPE THEMES FROM HIS SOUTHERN ALBERTA SURROUNDINGS AND TRAVELS ABROAD. HE WAS SELECTED FOR MEMBERSHIP IN SEVERAL PRESTIGIOUS CANADIAN ART ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE ALBERTA SOCIETY OF ARTISTS, THE SOCIETY OF CANADIAN ARTISTS, THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOUR, AND THE ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS. LAYCOCK HAS PURSUED A BUSY EXHIBITION SCHEDULE WITH VARIOUS COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC GALLERIES IN CANADA AND THE USA AND IS NOW REPRESENTED IN MANY PUBLIC, CORPORATE AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS. HE HAS BEEN COMMISSIONED TO PAINT IMAGES FOR TWO CANADIAN POSTAGE STAMPS, AND TO CREATE INDOOR AND OUTDOOR MURALS. HIS GRAPHIC ARTWORK INCLUDES THE DESIGN OF MANY ART CATALOGUES, LOGOS, AND ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. HE HAS WON AWARDS FOR HIS LOGO DESIGN. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPY OF ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY.

Catalogue Number

P19860057000

Acquisition Date

1985

Collection

Museum

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