On Friday August 15 2014, ten projects were installed in alleys and dray ways throughout Winnipeg’s West Exchange District.  Each was designed by a creative team and built with a limited budget in a short amount of time.  The object was very simply, to think about Winnipeg’s iconic spaces and re-imagine, temporarily, how those spaces might be animated.  Embedding creativity and the arts into our neighbourhoods can be transformational, and the Creative Placemaking Challenge explored that for one day.

Filmmaker Mike Maryniuk followed the teams  and the public thorughout the day as thousands of people interacted with the ten installations. Watch the whole film and learn more about the installations below.

The Projects

(Photos by Leif Norman, graphics by Justin Ladia)

1. Betwixt (Theo Sims and Jenn Angela Lopes)

Situated near two old fur company buildings are the fringes or cusp; shadow reminders of what history dictates to us. The alleyway will exude time replete: past present and future on various clothing items hung on market stalls, mini-dialogues about flesh, fur and relationships.

2. In Full Swing (Lorna Parashin and Moe Yusim)

Participants will swing in 8 music making hammocks and transform the quiet of the alley into a spontaneous, non choreographed soundtrack for the day.

3. Cats in the Alley (Nicole Shimonek with Ken Gregory)

A series of interactive projections of cats chasing a laser light in the alley.

4. City Sailing (Sasha Amaya)

On one level, the simple simplicity of sailing on Lake Winnipeg; on the other, the juxtaposition of experiencing the natural within the built, and the external within a small internal space

5. interTWINE (Number TEN Architectural Group)

A sculptural representation of the people, experiences, and energy that make up great neighbourhoods, which learns from the success of The Exchange District to enrich discussion about other areas of Winnipeg – see Number TEN’s video about the project here

6. Your Garden (Nicole Jowett, Janna Barkman, and Nick Turnbull)

A pop-up community garden that is open to all to experience the potential for fresh and affordable produce in the neighbourhood

7. POP (Plain Projects Landscape Architecture)

bubbles: three ways – A transformation to reveal the ephemeral qualities of the alley and surrounds.

8. Public Pool (Christopher F.E. Beauvilain and Marc Arnould)

An exercise in imagination which aims to engage the public in placemaking by challenging the viewer to reevaluate and question existing spaces.

9. DayGazer (Emily Bews and Ashley James)

A dreamy canopy of stars illuminating an otherwise shadowed dray way

10. Jamais je ne t’oublierai (Colette Balcaen)

A colourful kite inscribed with a quote from the collection of traditional songs entitled La bonne chanson: recalling hope, courage, and strength – part of the history of Canadian francophones