Last spring, while looking for the principal's office at Pinetree secondary school, Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart couldn't help but notice the artwork in the halls. The mosaics, in particular, caught his eye and so he asked principal John McCullough if his school could create something similar for a boardroom at city hall.
A few weeks later, art teacher Brian Gleckman met with the mayor, listening as he talked about his vision for a public art project that tied in with Coquitlam's 2009 Cultural Capital of Canada designation.
He wanted a collage of faces that represented Coquitlam - every age, ethnic background and era, at its annual festivals, arts events and sporting activities.
During the chat, Gleckman drew a few sketches and, over the next few months, got some images from city hall as well as contact names and numbers to get ideas.
He then asked Pinetree's Grade 9 to 12 population to join in on the project and, out of that call, 11 young artists stepped forward to participate in the legacy project for Room 480.
Using graphite pencils, the students captured the photographs in 31 portraits, with some producing as many as eight pieces. Among the images they interpreted were a piper at the annual BC Highland Games and Scottish Festival at Town Centre Park, an elderly man at a Canada Day celebration, an Olympic torch bearer and a Kwikwetlem First Nations parade from the 1920s.
They also drew Coquitlam pioneers such as the Rev. Father Edmond Maillard of France, who developed the francophone community in 1910; George Munday, whose land is now Mundy Park; and Ernest Edgar Gatensbury, after whom a street is named.
Last month, with the help of city maintenance staff, Gleckman and two students installed the 14-foot-long artwork on the room's slightly curved wall, varying the elevation of each panel to create a three-dimensional effect. And last night (Thursday), it was officially unveiled before city council, municipal workers and school staff, with the students present.
"I found it really incredible to be part of because it was all this different history about Coquitlam that I didn't know about," said Grade 12 student Hartman Ho, 18, who took on the Irishman, highland dancers and aboriginal themes.
Stewart said he had no idea what the result would be when he commissioned the work on behalf of the city, which supplied the students' material costs, but "I was blown away when I saw it," he said. "They have literally transformed that meeting room."
Room 480 isn't just for in-camera council debate, he said. Delegations, including international groups, are brought to the third-floor boardroom when they arrive at city hall and the artwork "has inspired a lot of discussion," Stewart said. "You can see people's eyes shift to it when you're meeting with them."
As for Gleckman, he hopes Pinetree kids will be able to create more public art outside of the school walls.
"I tell my students that art is something more than just in a gallery or in a shopping centre," he said. "It can be about changing the way society thinks. It applies to meaningful experiences. It can teach and inspire people."
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Examples of Coquitlam public art:
Pioneer Square, a $200,000 60-foot stainless steel sculpture at Brunette Avenue and King Edward Street
Echinacea and Bee sculpture at Town Centre Park's Inspiration Garden
Sockeye fish, a $130,000 sculpture at the Spirit Square
Stone faces at Blue Mountain Park
Totem pole at Dogwood Pavilion
