Calgary art project showcases future hopes of young Albertans

There’s a new symbol of hope for Calgarians and visitors to enjoy this summer.

It’s an art project on a ridge overlooking the mountains just west of the Calgary city limits.

The piece showcases 1,000 Alberta students’ hopes for the future, written on ribbons hanging on a tapestry. It features students and seniors teaming up to celebrate dreams for the future.

The messages touch on a wide variety of hopes.

“My dream is to see the world come together as one” reads one, while another states “My dream is to lead a meaningful life.”

Made of wool, the tapestry was crocheted by members of the Bowness Seniors Club.

“It’s a work of love,” club member Brenda Ault said.

The tapestry holding the ribbons is attached to tree trunks.

“The trees bring the earth and sky together,” artist Sabine Lecorre-Moore said.

Lecorre-Moore and her fellow Calgary artist Patricia Lortie were in charge of the project, traveling to school around Alberta to create the piece, called Territories of Dreams.

“We were on the road for a full month, from Lethbridge to Fort McMurray and north of Slave Lake,” Lecorre said. “Sharing dreams creates links between communities, Anglophone, Francophone, First Nations — we all have the same basic dreams.”

Calgary Grade 12 student Charlotte Hawboldt was one of the people who wrote her hopes for the future on a ribbon.

“I talked about wanting a garden, to live by the ocean, to live a happy life,” Hawboldt said.

Hawboldt is grateful to have had the chance to participate in the project.

“We hear a lot of really pessimistic things, but people still have a lot of hope,” Hawboldt said. “It’s so, so cool!”

Territories of Dreams will remain on display until the end of September 2023 in the outdoor sculpture park at the Kiyooka Ohe Arts Centre.