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Calgary sculpture less likely to burn clothing, now accepts text messages

The Wishing Well sculpture has a new home in Calgary's Bridgeland neighbourhood after spending years in storage away from public view.  (Helen Pike/CBC - image credit)
The Wishing Well sculpture has a new home in Calgary's Bridgeland neighbourhood after spending years in storage away from public view. (Helen Pike/CBC - image credit)

A notorious piece of public art, famous for burning a hole in a visitor's jacket, is back on public display in Calgary after some safety testing. This time, the city is confident it will have a tamer, less heated experience.

The $700,000 sculpture, called Wishing Well, was first installed in front of the Genesis Centre of Community Wellness in northeast Calgary in 2012.

On a sunny day in 2014, the polished stainless steel sculpture singed a visitor's jacket as they stood inside admiring the work. The city then removed the sculpture for safety reasons.

After eight years of sitting in dark storage, away from public view, the sculpture is back. This time it's in Bridgeland.

Ensuring a safe return for the sculpture wasn't easy, said Julie Yepishina-Geller, public art liaison for the city of Calgary.

It took extensive testing in a controlled lab environment and consultation with artist group Living Lenses of San Francisco. 

"[Living Lenses] really came to the table," she said. "Their main goal was to have this piece back into the public realm, same as ours."

Submitted by the City of Calgary
Submitted by the City of Calgary

The two polished stainless steel hemispheres were originally reflective inside and out, cradling an equally reflective sphere in between, so officials opted to dull the inside.

To further reduce any risk of a heated encounter, Yepishina-Geller said the sculpture was placed at a 20 degree angle.

Then, there was the issue of location.

Wishing Well is an incredibly heavy piece, weighing 2,200 kilograms, so an indoor space wasn't possible.

That's where the Bridgeland location came in. Thanks to a private-public partnership with developer JEMM Properties, the move and installation of the sculpture won't cost Calgarians any more tax dollars, and it's now in a public outdoor plaza with seating.

Submitted by the City of Calgary
Submitted by the City of Calgary

With its return, Wishing Well has gotten some new tech. Visitors can send text messages to 1-587-327-9939 in the form of a greeting or wish.

The words from the messages get processed into braille text dots that play music, sounds and voices that can be heard by standing inside of the sculpture.

Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said the sculpture's return is one example of how Calgary's public art program has matured in recent years.

"A strong arts and culture sector, a public realm that is bedazzled with thought provoking public art, pays dividends whether they are social or whether they are economic," said Carra.

Northeast Calgary public art projects to come

While the new Wishing Well location is technically still in Calgary's northeast quadrant, there's a desire for more public art in the area.

The removal and relocation of the sculpture opened up a conversation around what public art in northeast Calgary should look like.

The spot where Wishing Well used to be in front of the Genesis Centre has been left vacant.

But Yepishina-Geller said there are initiatives on the way to fill that gap.

"There's going to be several small scale projects, including a project at the Genesis Centre that will be installed over the next two years," Yepishina-Geller said.

"We're in the process right now of commissioning an artist for that."