Each year, we lose some good outdoor art in Winnipeg. For the year indicated, here's a
last look at, a last goodbye to some of the artwork that has disappeared that year.
Graham Avenue & Fort Street
This is one of 10 Transit Controllers commissioned by Winnipeg Downtown BIZ for the Graham Avenue Festival in 2007; with additional sponsorship by Take Pride Winnipeg. The rendering artist was Eugene Boittiaux. The Controller Box was replaced in 2014. Original notes follow:
Eugene Boittiaux: "I wanted to have the feel of the area in the design. A lot of people in the area are pedestrians who
ride the bus; and that's what I'm usually there for. So rather than focus on the commerce
of the area I wanted to focus on the people; and to made it endearing with a bit of
humour."
"In this one I was taking the iconic figures from Birth of Venus and blending them into
an ordinary Winnipeg winter scene with ordinary people. The skin tones of their faces
and the hair are supposed to be an amalgamation of different ethnicities of the downtown
area. It might not be that noticeable, but that's what I tried to do."
I did try in a couple of spots to give a hint of the coming of spring. The background I
tried to give it a little bit of fantasy feel- there's a hint of a spire and castletops along the
horizon. The people who passed by were all very positive about what I was doing. It
was getting colder by this time- quite late in the year to be still painting outside. It was
humid and rainy as well. I tried to make the scene look very cold as well!"
