Edmonton Waste Management Centre Welcomes Their First Artist-in-Residence, Leanne Olson

The Edmonton Waste Management Centre (EWMC) is a unique collection of advanced waste processing and research facilities where municipal waste is transformed into useful resources. The Centre is 233 hectares in size; the Composting Facility alone occupies space equivalent to almost five football fields. On average, 4,500 trucks bearing 9,800 tonnes of material cross the scale every week. Over 15,000 students, teachers and adults tour the Centre each year.

“We’re excited for this opportunity to host an artist-in-residence at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre,” said Michael Robertson, contract manager with the City of Edmonton’s Materials Recovery Facility. “Leanne’s passion for capturing change in the natural world connects to our goals of waste reduction and environmental stewardship. I think that her work here will provide a fresh perspective on waste and a new way to engage with Edmonton residents and our staff.”

In September, the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton put out the call for an artist to take residency at this massive municipal waste facility. More than 25 local artists applied for the opportunity, and due to her artistic focus and environmental interests, local artist Leanne Olson was ultimately selected for the position.

Olson is a photo-based artist born in Toronto and raised in Edmonton. In 2002, she received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Film & Media Studies from the University of Alberta. Olson also has a history of working and engaging with the community, with experience as a lead artist in the print studio at the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts and as an ongoing community art project facilitator with the Bissell Centre in Edmonton.

Click Here to see more of Leanne's work & read her interview

  

Art at Kennedale Eco Station

Next time you’re dropping off your waste at the new Kennedale Eco station, expect to experience more than just convenience and great service.

Five pieces of artwork were recently installed at Kennedale Eco Station. Brandon Blommaert, the artist who designed the artwork for Ambleside Eco Station, used a similar concept at Kennedale by montaging hand made sculptures with actual landscapes. Brandon collected discarded and reusable objects to build the sculptures, then paired them with landscapes from various places around Canada.

These art installations are part of the City’s Percent for Art program where one per cent of the construction budget of any publicly accessible municipal project is allocated for art.

Hybrid Trucks...Part 1

Did you know that the City of Edmonton currently has 7 hybrids in its fleet of vehicles for collecting waste? Two of these trucks were purchased in 2012, and five more were added in 2013 to replace older vehicles. All of the hybrids are currently in active use.




Remember those fun, art-wrapped trucks we featured in Kennedale's new look last month? The two red ones are both hybrids.

The trucks run on diesel, like the other vehicles, but are fitted with a special Engine Stop-Start hybrid system that turns off the engine while the vehicle is immobile. This reduces idling time in vehicles, like collections trucks, that make frequent stops. The engine restarts when the compactor is engaged or when the accelerator is pressed. The transmission remains engaged so there is no lag when starting again. Hydraulic energy is also harvested from braking. Click here to watch a video showing the system in action.

The hybrid system reduces exhaust emissions of SO₂, NO_x, and particulates by 20%, compared to a conventional system. According to the manufacturer, fuel consumption can also be reduced by 15 to 20%. The City of Edmonton plans to conduct an efficiency review of the seven vehicles in early 2014 to find out what kind of numbers we are seeing for our particular usage patterns. They will use that data to make future decisions concerning our waste collections fleet.

We're certainly looking forward to hearing those results, and we'll be sure to share some findings with you in Hybrid Trucks...Part 2.

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Kennedale's new look

In 2012, as part of the City of Edmonton's Percent to Art policy, the Edmonton Arts Council turned 5 of our waste collection vehicles into mobile art. Under this directive, one percent of the budget for qualifying projects is allocated for art to be installed in public view, for all citizens and visitors to enjoy.

These trucks are fully functional, in service, and bringing smiles to Edmontonians on garbage day around the city.

Recently, as part of that same initiative, the decorated trucks were immortalized on the outer walls of the expanded Kennedale Waste Management Facility. Each truck has been re-imagined into a different landscape. Some of the resulting portraits are peaceful, some are outlandish, and some will just make you grin.

I'm having a hard time picking between the truck on the moon, and the truck in the icy mountain range.

Which is your favourite? Take our poll!

Public Art Rollin' into Back Alleys Near You

Waste Management Services is constructing a new building called Kennendale Waste Operations East to house single-family collection vehicles and staff. This means that thanks to The City's Percent for Art Policy there will be some colourful collection trucks in our fleet of vehicles. The policy states that 1% of the capital budget for new buildings will be dedicated to public art work.

Waste Management Services' new operations building at the Northeast Kennendale public art project includes 2 components:

• 6 newly wrapped trucks will be introduced to the streets of Edmonton over the next few months.
• 6 permanent panels will be installed on the new building. 

The first of 6 trucks which are wrapped with art selected by the Edmonton Art Council.  

The Edmonton Arts Council has selected three Alberta artists for the initiative:

Karen Campos was born in El Salvador and currently resides in Edmonton, where she attended MacEwan University as an Illustration Major in Design Studies. She has exhibited works at the ARTery, Exposure Festival, and was one of three artists who participated in the downtown Colour Alley Project.

Jeff Chan currently lives in Lethbridge, and is completing an Education Program at the University of Lethbridge. He received his bachelor of fine arts in Drawing from the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2011. He has participated in art shows in both Calgary and Lethbridge; recently he completed a performance piece entitled “Free Wishes” in San Francisco.

David Goulden received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of British Columbia and then went on to complete his Masters of Architecture from the University of Calgary. David’s artistic career has spanned the last 12 years. He is an artist, creative director, art director, and a designer. His work has been published and shown internationally including Canadian Architect, AZURE, and Applied Arts magazines. He is the founder of id8 design group. David currently lives in Calgary.

Garbage and art often find themselves hand in hand. Here are some other Edmonton based projects you may find interesting:

City Hall, Edmonton Police Service, Alberta Health, Catholic Social Services, Homeward Trust and Arts on the Ave came together as The 82 Street Team to create The Eyes on the Alley Project. Photos were placed on dumpsters on alley east of 82 Street between 121 and 122 Ave. 

Edmonton on the Edge has wrapped seven dumpsters in the Alley of Light. To check them out, stroll in the alley just north of Jasper between Enterprise Square (103 St) and Beaver HIlls Park (105 St). Photographs were all created by painting with light. 

Brandon Blommaert's work was selected for the Ambleside Ecostation in 2009. The artwork consists of five images of typical Alberta landscapes: the Rocky Mountains, Boreal Forest, Parkland, the Badlands and urban sprawl.