Four new banners celebrating Canada’s people, places and puck-handling abilities will be unfurled along Lonsdale Avenue by the end of June.
More than 400 North Vancouver students between kindergarten and Grade 12 participated in the project, intended to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation.
The artists used crayons, felt pens and paints to answer one question: “What makes Canada great?”
Accompanying his drawing of a hockey player stickhandling across a frozen pond, Grade 2 Boundary Elementary student Charley Watson identified water, freedom and sports as some of the best things about the Great White North. “Lots of different kinds of people move here and have a great life, like my mom and dad did,” he wrote.
Diversity was paramount for Sutherland secondary Grade 11 student Isobel Korres, whose boldly coloured design pays homage to Canadian artists like Emily Carr.
“We are able to live in harmony with our different cultures, beliefs and perspectives. With different perspectives comes unique art, so I tried to incorporate the styles of various Canadian artists into this piece,” she explained in her artist statement.
With a piece envisioning global unity, Grade 12 Bodwell School student Paloma Iglesias Gonzalez focused on Canada’s inclusivity.
“What makes Canada unique is multiculturalism,” she wrote. “Nature is also an important component of what makes Canada great.”
Canada’s wildlife was the subject of Grade 4 Alcuin College student Mychael Winkler-Hart’s banner, which depicts a nighttime gathering of ducks, bears, elk and wolves. “I think the animals make Canada great,” he wrote.
The banners are expected to flutter on Lonsdale until mid-2017.
