Fredericton’s city hall made more colourful by Weathergrams for Good art installation

Katrina Slade answered the call for a public art piece at City Hall in Fredericton, N.B. The art installation is called Weathergrams for Good.

The 800 piece exhibit took three weeks to create and features messages of love and kindness.

“They are inspired by an Asian tradition called Tanzaku where people write their wishes for the New Year on colourful paper and hang them in trees,” Slade told Global News.

Visitors to the exhibit were using one word to describe the experience: beautiful.

“I love it, it’s really vibrant,” said Fredericton resident Sasha French.

“I think that the colour that Katrina’s art has added is pretty special and the messages are nice to read,” said Jessica Cleghorn.

During this summer’s pandemic, the outdoor space in front of Fredericton City Hall has seen a surge in usage due to the addition of bistro tables and chairs.

“It’s really great that the city galvanized quite quickly to get this set up and then to empower an artist to come in and facilitate a space that we can come to enjoy ourselves, feel inspired, and also enjoy the beautiful sunshine after being cooped up for months,” said Jaqueline Car.

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It’s a sentiment that French agreed with.

“You never know who’s walking by and just really needed to see something or feeling something that day, even if you don’t need it in that moment that’s a great place of privilege that you’re in,” she said.

Everyone in the community is encouraged to get involved in the project.

“If you come here and you go into the visitors’ centre at city hall you can write your own message on a weathergram and I will be putting them up every week,” said Slade

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“The interaction portion is great because anyone can be an artist. I feel like this exhibit encourages people to do it at their home to come here to participate,” said French.

“It’s tactile, you can feel it, you can engage, kids can touch it, it’s just an accessible art project that’s really beautifying the city.”

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The art installation will be featured at Fredericton City Hall until the fall.

Slade says she would like to see Weathergrams for Good projects exhibited in cities across Canada.