Have you ever happened past a lamp or signpost wrapped in crochet? Have you seen pictures of a London phone booth converted into a giant tea cozy? Craftivists — groups and individuals who advocate do-it-yourself craft-based creativity to address social issues — have long been practising “knit-ffiti” or “yarn-bombing” in an attempt to beautify urban spaces, assert personal freedom and expression, and encourage community involvement. These guerilla actions have typically been spontaneous. In the spring of 2009, however, the City of Calgary decided to include social crafting principles in its public art programming. The results are now all over town — handwoven street banners made from repurposed materials.

While Calgary has been lining its streets with fabric banners for at least a decade, the decision to create unique works of art in place of mass-produced printed flags is relatively new. In late 2007, the Urban Design and Heritage Group for the City of Calgary hired Mieka West as a consultant for its “plan for city centre, to make it a more vibrant, walkable, pedestrian-friendly and culturally thriving city.” This past spring, West commissioned local fiber artists Marci Simkulet and Stefanie Wong to produce 140 banners to line all of the bridges in and around downtown. Each banner is a handmade original — customized to each location in order to express a given theme — woven or knitted from local material and old city banners.

The MacDonald Bridge on Ninth Ave. S.E., located near the Stampede grounds, honours the western tradition of using conventional textile processes to create patchwork banners from donated Calgary Stampede flags. The Louise Bridge on 10th St. S.W. uses materials exclusively from a 2008 banner series and each is individually handwoven, requiring a total of 46,480 stitches to produce. Both the Mewata Bridge on 14th St. S.W. and the Langevin Bridge on Edmonton Trail use recycled snow fencing through which the artists interlace strips of old banners in a repeating grid-like and diagonal pattern. These banners reference the sunlit windows of Calgary’s skyline and the bridge structure as it appears at sunrise and sunset.

The other bridges also employ carefully selected materials to reference their surroundings, such as the 57,600 feet of mason’s and fishing line woven into the Centre Street Bridge banners. Old tarp material is used on the Zoo Bridge to create nest-like forms that explore the temporary shelters — man-made and avian — in the nearby Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The Inglewood Bridge on Ninth Ave. S.E. incorporates fleece sheared from local sheep that is hand-felted with thin rusting wire to draw attention to the aging beauty of the community’s historic sites.

The banners are meant to promote appreciation of the different communities throughout the city and to encourage pedestrian traffic. Hours of painstaking care and practised skill were needed to create the works. This gallery-on-the-street is a reward for the individuals who take the time to walk through the city and appreciate its beauty.

Striving to develop its creative identity, Calgary is taking a chance with this public art initiative. Instead of relying on proven models in established venues, the city turned its gaze inwards, seeking local talent and indigenous materials. West believes that artists have the ability to transform neighbourhoods, and these banners exemplify the collaborative creativity and community spirit celebrated through craft activism.

These banners will provide a financial kickback as well; once they are taken down this spring they will be auctioned off for local charities.

To view works by Simkulet and Wong online, visit: www.mackenziefrere.com