The Sentinels

This is part of a large-scale land art sculpture by world renowned artist Beverly Pepper, built at the Ralph Klein Park, on the eastern edge of the city. On 21st April 2013, I went on a trip with a group of friends to visit this fairly new Park, that has several huge ponds. Any body of water has been frozen until very recently, but the ponds were now pretty much open. You can just make out a small group of Swans flying in the distance. I did a quick removal of some very distracting electricity wires. The rest of the land sculpture includes a third, narrower pillar and two "pyramids". Must admit that when I was trying to photograph the display, before I read that these were part of the sculpture, I was wishing that "they" had removed the piles of dirt that were still lying there. There are better angles from which to take photos, but when you are with a group, you can't take off on your own.

"The result is astonishing because it looks like it was born here." said Pepper from the Ralph Klein Park dedication ceremony. Her two-year project has two pyramids jutting out of rolling prairie with three steel ‘sentinels’ looming over. It is perched on a hillside looking over Ralph Klein Park’s Environmental Education Centre.

"The monoliths at Ralph Klein Legacy Park are meant to herald the uniqueness of the wetlands,” said Pepper. “I believe my work offers a place for reflection and contemplative thought within the context of active urban environments.”

www.calgarycitynews.com/2010/07/beverly-peppers-sentinals...

Needless to say, I thought of Ralph Klein, who died very recently, when I was out there, mentally thanking him for all he did for Calgary and Alberta over many years.