Valley Line Southeast: where creativity meets community | Stories

A dragon, a cloud of horses, and mosaics inspired by Mill Creek Ravine are some of the sights you’ll see along the new Valley Line Southeast LRT.

As part of Edmonton’s Percent for Art policy, 14 public artworks were commissioned for the new line from Mill Woods to downtown Edmonton. (Art for the Millbourne/Woodvale Stop is still pending. Stay tuned!)

Public art weaves the threads of culture and creativity into the fabric of our cities, making the street a gallery and every passerby a patron. By supporting local artists, cities can foster a thriving artistic ecosystem and further enhance their cultural identity.

Here’s a closer look at the art along Valley Line Southeast:

The windows of an LRT station are decorated with images of two birds, feathers and a star.

Mill Woods Stop

Artwork: If the Drumming Stops

Artists: Peter Morin and Tania Willard (B.C.), Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Edmonton)

At this stop, glass art connects transit users to the stories of the Papaschase Cree, who lived on the land that became Mill Woods. The artwork intends to give voice to the language, land, history, and current realities of Indigenous Peoples in Mill Woods.

If the Drumming Stops was created by Peter Morin and Tania Willard, Indigenous artists from B.C., as well as Cheryl L’Hirondelle, a Métis/Cree artist with Papaschase roots. Their work juxtaposes historical images and drawings of the site’s original ecosystem with modern-day life, allowing Edmontonians to see through the eye of a buffalo from within one of the glass shelters of the Mill Woods Stop.

Grey Nuns Stop

Artwork: A Pattern Language

Artist: Karen Ho Fatt Lee (Alberta)

Karen Ho Fatt Lee’s canopy art was inspired by cultural textiles and showcases 22 traditional folk and tribal motifs from diverse ethnic groups worldwide.

Community engagement played a pivotal role in A Pattern Language’s creation, with locals contributing fabric samples representing their heritage. The 53-foot aluminum structure mirrors a cloth border, displaying geometric and curvilinear patterns from various cultures. The visually-striking piece transforms the mundane into a joyful experience, connecting passengers with the Mill Woods community and inspiring a sense of unity through art.

The visually-striking piece transforms the mundane into a joyful experience, connecting passengers with the Mill Woods community and inspiring a sense of unity through art.

An aluminum panel, featuring multi-shaped cut-outs, runs the length of the roof of an LRT shelter like the cloth border of a blouse or a dress.

Davies Station

Artwork: Fluid Landscape

Artist: Shan Shan Sheng (San Francisco)

This impressive glass artwork spans the entire length of Davies Station, transforming the building into an iconic beacon of colour and nature. Fluid Landscape blends Alberta’s diverse landscapes across the seasons and is visible at all hours to those inside and outside the station.

Davies Ramp

Artwork: Confluence

Artist: Erin Pankratz (Edmonton)

This is one of two glass and tile mosaics gracing the concrete ramp leading to the Davies elevated guideway, situated near Argyll Road and the Mill Creek Ravine. Created by Erin Pankratz, each captivating mosaic is 47-metres in length.

Her inspiration draws from nature, with cloud-like shapes representing the ravine’s flow and the merging of sky, land and water. The title, Confluence, holds dual meanings of merging and the point where rivers meet, symbolizing the reconnection between the ravine and the North Saskatchewan River. Pankratz meticulously handcrafted the mosaics over five years, ensuring resilience against Edmonton’s varying weather.

Mosaic tiles arranged in the pattern of a two-tailed comet add colour to a concrete ramp.

A copper-coloured sculpture of a jumping deer sits on the roof of an outdoor LRT shelter.

Avonmore Stop

Artwork: High Jinx

Artist: Paul Freeman (Edmonton)

High Jinx, inspired by Avonmore’s proximity to the Mill Creek Ravine, features three life-size sculptures of playful deer sliding down the transit shelter roofs.

These whimsical sculptures aim to evoke the joy of sliding in the river valley. Artist Paul Freeman, founder and Artistic Director of Edmonton’s Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts, collaborated with the community to determine the sculptures’ placement, form, poses and surface treatment.

Bonnie Doon Stop

Artwork: Four Seasons in Silver Heights Peony Garden

Artist: Oksana Movchan (Edmonton)

Inspired by the Silver Heights Peony Garden, which thrived during the 1920s to 1940s, Oksana Movchan’s artwork portrays peonies in various growth stages, reflecting the changing seasons.

She collaborated with Rutherford Elementary School to incorporate students’ compositions into the piece, celebrating community, learning and exploration. The artwork pays tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, mirroring the peonies’ triumph over adversity in Edmonton’s climate.

Windows of a LRT shelter are decorated with art of blue flowers, trees and dots.

A window in a LRT shelter reads: "Bonnie Doon means to me all the wonderful nature and nice happy people who live there; also it means all the great events like the Flying Canoe Festival." - Aysha (Grade 5)

Windows of an LRT shelter are decorated with photographs of trees, sidewalks, and tile art.

Holyrood Stop

Artwork: Holyrood Lanterns

Artist: Adad Hannah (Vancouver)

To create this piece of interactive artwork, Adad Hannah collaborated with high school classes and locals to capture around a thousand photos of the Holyrood neighbourhood.

These images were woven into a kaleidoscope-like collage wrapping around the top of each stop shelter. The artwork aims to bring joy and playfulness to LRT riders, encouraging them to explore the surrounding communities and spot familiar objects in the images. Hannah’s hope is that locals will enjoy recognizing elements of their community, akin to an “I Spy” game.

Strathearn Stop

Artwork: Of Birds and Such

Artist: Public Studio (Toronto)

This art installation showcases the natural habitats of birds and other animals in Strathearn. Each shelter depicts a 3D environment using scale and depth, resembling museum dioramas.

The project involved collaboration with the Edmonton Area Land Trust and local artists and photographers, who captured the landscapes, wildlife and plantlife, resulting in composite images printed on glass walls. The installation intends to immerse viewers in nature’s beauty while raising awareness about the importance of addressing the climate crisis to protect these wonders.

A glass LRT shelter is decorated with photographic images of an owl in a tree watched by a wolf standing on a snow-covered trail in a forest.

The top of an LRT shelter is decorated with sculptures of pink flowers that look like satellite dishes pointing to the sky.

Muttart Stop

Artist: Best Fronds
Artwork: Stephanie Jonsson (Edmonton)

This sculpture, inspired by the Muttart Conservatory’s flora, consists of two 30-foot-long, four-foot-high sections on diagonal canopies and was created with the help of an all-female welding team. Artist Stephanie Jonsson found inspiration for the piece when she hosted an event at the Muttart Conservatory in 2018, where participants’ drawings of plants and flowers influenced the final abstract design.

She hopes her art uplifts and inspires commuters and visitors to the Muttart Conservatory.

Panels of multi-coloured and multi-shaped art run the length of the ceiling of a concrete pedestrian/LRT bridge.

Tawatinâ Bridge

Edmonton artist David Garneau, winner of the Governor General’s Award, created a 500-panel art installation along the Tawatinâ Bridge.

This artwork serves as a tribute to the history, nature and presence of First Nations and Métis communities in the region. It aims to convey a story and offers enjoyment to all who take the time to appreciate it. The paintings feature recognizable elements such as animals, plants, historical photos and museum objects. The piece also includes maps, paired images, mysterious illustrations and hidden codes, which can be brought to life by First Nations and Métis storytellers, knowledge keepers and local historians.

The Quarters Stop

Artwork: Descendants of the Dragon

Artist: Paul Reimer (Calgary/Cranbrook)

This five-metre iron sculpture is a collaboration between artist/blacksmith Paul Reimer and community members.

Originally an abstract ribbon, the concept evolved through community engagement to resemble a dragon, symbolizing prosperity and good luck. Locals suggested incorporating Chinese calligraphy to enrich the design’s meaning, uniting the dragon symbolism with characters reading “descendants of the dragon.”

A ribbon-like iron sculpture, inspired by Chinese calligraphy and the shape of a dragon, sits on top of the roof of an LRT stop.

Churchill Connector at Churchill Stop

Artwork: Helios

Artist: Max Streicher (Olds/Toronto)

This inflated sculpture portrays three horses emerging from a cloud structure, symbolizing the Greek sun god and representing both myth and history. The piece is a blend of artistry, engineering and historical significance, paying homage to Edmonton’s past as an agricultural and transportation hub.

A glass LRT shelter is decorated with art of flowers and various striped patterns.

102 Street Stop

Artwork: You Are Here

Artist: Hello Kirsten (Edmonton/Toronto)

This glass installation, in the heart of downtown, incorporates patterns and motifs from various cultures to highlight the diverse intersections that define contemporary Edmonton. Artist Kirsten McCrea created the artwork to pay tribute to the city’s history, celebrate its present and envision a future where more cultural connections are possible.

Editor’s note: the first image on this page shows a 47-metre-long mosaic, one of two created by Edmonton artist Erin Pankratz, on the Davies Ramp. Check out the art along Valley Line Southeast with these interactive maps created by the Edmonton Arts Council: Mill Woods to Bonnie Doon and Holyrood to 102 Street.