First SuperTrain artwork rolling out of the station

New temporary public art by local Indigenous artist Ambrose Cardinal is now gracing Edmonton communities along the LRT line. Ambrose created the new designs as part of the SuperTrain public art initiative led by The Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists (SNAP) in partnership with the Edmonton Arts Council and Pattison Outdoor Advertising. The multidisciplinary artist was commissioned to create new designs over a two-month residency rooted in the theme of ​“environmental stewardship,” during which he was encouraged to explore the relationship between the natural world and urban spaces.

His is the first of three SuperTrains. Later this year, collaborative designs by Michelle Campos Castillo and Roger Garcia will roll out in August; followed by Helen Gerritzen and Kyla Fischer in November. The three transitory public artworks will each provide a travelling public art exhibit for a span of at least eight months. 

Ambrose Cardinal is a multidisciplinary Métis and Cree artist and Oskapewis (ceremony helper), hailing from Amiskwaciwâskahikan. The intersectionalities between his work as an Oskapewis and as an Indigenous artist revolve around expressions of radical love, resistance and healing. His most recent artistic interests are based around relationality to place, to honour the ones who currently inhabit space while also honouring our ancestors and connection to Amiskwaciwâskahikan. Art to Ambrose is essential to healing, essential to understanding and essential to creating a world worth fighting for. 

“Environmental stewardship is ingrained into our beings as Indigenous peoples,” said artist Ambrose Cardinal, addressing the central theme of his work for the project. ​“The term carries a bit of weight – Indigenous peoples historically and currently have been systematically forced and disempowered from being the stewards of our lands. Even though this notion of being stewards of our lands was one of the original interpretations of treaty, we are not able to be these stewards, due to the active process of colonization. But it is our responsibility to reclaim our inherent rights to do so.” 

With this project Ambrose has important lessons to impart, ​“I want to encapsulate the interconnectivity of all beings that is entrenched within our spiritual laws as Nehiyawak. I want to utilize notions of traditional storytelling into the modern landscape of amiskwacy, to show that we have an active role to play in healing the earth and ultimately healing ourselves.”