Art in the Park

Buena Vista Park Art for Kids brought a pop of colour and a sense of community to people in our neighbourhood after a couple of tough years of pandemic isolation.

The month-long outdoor art show in Buena Vista park kicked off with an official opening celebration that drew a large crowd of people.

On March 1st, when there was still plenty of snow on the ground, we placed rubbermaid bins on two front steps and encouraged families to come by and pick up a piece of mat board that we had donated by a couple of local framing shops.

The mat board was all colours and sizes and was picked up very quickly. We had many people message asking if we had any more to give. We needed to keep the project manageable so we only made 100 pieces available.

Children then had one month to create a piece of art. We asked the artists to drop off the completed piece by April 1st into the same rubbermaid bins.

Throughout the month of April, we had a tremendous amount of help from Dandelion Art Framing. The owner and one of her employees laminated and framed close to 100 art pieces. The Buena Vista Community Association paid for the lamination, volunteers collected second hand frames from thrift shops, friends and art stores. Dandelion Art Framing provided all of the labour for free.

On May 1st the art show was installed thanks to the help of several community volunteers. We tied the art pieces with wire to the fence that borders the basketball court and paddling pool.

The timing was perfect. It made the park so vibrant and colourful before any of our trees or lilac bushes were in bloom.

To make it feel like a real party, we reached out to a few organizations in the city to join us on May 1st for the opening. The Green Mean Ice Cream Machine, Yoko’s Creative Face Painting, and the Saskatoon Public Library set up an outdoor story time.

We also invited the PunchBuggy Express to show off their new pedal bus. They had a bubble machine and played games with the children. Life Outside Gear Store did a nature craft and BVCA provided a bit of funding to provide lemonade, candy and some chalk for kids to colour the basketball court. We also decorated the park with homemade decorations. The cost to BVCA was $350.

The City of Saskatoon, in particular Kevin Ariss, was so supportive of the project. Every question was answered and his enthusiasm made us feel really supported.

At the end of May, children picked up their art to take home. Leftover pieces were delivered to Sunnyside Long Term Care Home for residents to enjoy.

It was so fun. We can’t wait to do it again in Spring 2023.

If you’re interested in volunteering or if you have questions, please email youth.art@bvcasaskatoon.ca or follow us on instagram at @bvkids_parkart.