City artist irks neighbors with memorial piece

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An art installation that started out as a memorial to Aboriginal artist Carl Beam has become a source of conflict in an Edmonton neighborhood.

Noted Aboriginal artist Jane Ash Poitras and her son Eli put up the memorial in the small public park across the street from her home in July, but never sought permission from the city of Edmonton.

After complaints from neighborhood residents about the memorial, the city conducted a survey of the homes nearby. The city met with Poitras on Oct. 25 to inform her that the memorial would have to be taken down because she had not gone through the approval process for changes to public parkland. A letter sent to Poitras said she had until Nov. 7 to remove the memorial or the city would remove it itself.

Rather than have the city take down the memorial, Poitras moved it across the street to her front yard on Nov. 3. She acknowledged that she did not seek permission to build the memorial, but argued that an approval process would have taken away from the spontaneity and spirituality of the moment in which it was created.

Poitras said that the builders of other memorials in the city do not have permits and their work is allowed to remain for quite some time. She does not see why her memorial should be treated differently.

Poitras maintains that the people who wanted the memorial removed are members of the Central Baptist Church that is located across the street from it.

"I knew there was some of them here at one time when we were building it and they told me that it was paganistic and hedonistic and 'What satanic cult do I belong to,'" Poitras said about her conversations with some community members.

The memorial features a seven-foot pole carved with Cree symbols and poetry. Four buffalo skulls are laid at its base. A medicine-wheel inspired circle made out of colored rock encircles the pole and represents the four races, said Poitras. The memorial also had flowers planted within the medicine wheel during the summer.

Alberta Sweetgrass went to Central Baptist Church and spoke with a church worker who did not want to give her name.

She admitted that she had complained to the city about what she called an object in the park. She also said that her actions were a result of her own feelings and that she does not represent the church's position on the issue.

Sweetgrass asked her what made Poitras' memorial different enough from other memorials in the city that she would want it removed.

The source said she does not recognize Jane Ash Poitras work as a memorial. She said she had called the city on other occasions to have other memorials on public land removed.

Rob Marchuck is a spokesperson for Edmonton Community Services Parks Planning and he acknowledged that the city had received other calls about the memorial.

Marchuck said two-thirds of the 48 residents surveyed were opposed to the memorial, because Poitras had not gone through the required approval process.

Marchuck also said that the city is sympathetic to Aboriginal art on public land, but in light of the community's opposition to the memorial the city had no choice but to ask for it to be removed.

"We offered to work with Jane and either find a new location for this or a location for another piece similar to this within the city. She indicated that she wasn't interested in doing that," said Marchuck.

"What was wrong with where it was," Poitras asked in response.

Poitras said she would not be able to care for the memorial if it was moved, and she likened the situation to that of moving Native people onto reserves.

"This is just another case of moving the Indians to somewhere where nobody will see them."