Activating Aesthetics in Public Spaces by Yang Lim

Jonathan Monfries, CANOPY, Plywood, 2023, Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB. Photo by Melanie Andony.

The built environment in downtown Edmonton is replete with glassy office towers and concrete buildings and spaces such as Churchill Square, the site of this year’s The Works Art & Design Festival. Amidst the sterile and depersonalizing connotations associated with these human-made structures, Jonathan Monfries’ installation CANOPY injects evocations of the natural environment into these surroundings by providing a functional, yet aesthetically eye-catching, group of wooden structures for everyone to experience and enjoy. 

Viewers of Monfries’ five-piece installation may recall last year’s edition of The Works, in which Agatha Chacinski’s A Grasp for Love and Breanna Barrington’s Nature First Aid both explored the relationship between people and the natural environment. Monfries explores similar ideas but does so from a design perspective. His installation evokes images of leafy trees clustered within a forest clearing, with its wide bases suggestive of tree roots and cone-like structures resembling tree leaves that extend upwards towards the sky. Clustered together, these five pieces are identical and convey a sense of symmetry that is pleasing to see.  

CANOPY occupies a central, visible location in the middle of Churchill Square. At any particular moment, one will see patrons of all ages and backgrounds sit down. With its functional qualities, it may not be apparent to people that this is a festival installation. However, perhaps that is part of what Monfries achieves through this work—that artistry is not simply, nor does it have to be, delimited within conventional forms of creative expression that culminate in works of art. Instead, aesthetic qualities can emanate from creations such as CANOPY, which also include the potential for revitalizing collective public spaces. Offering a place for people to congregate, CANOPY is akin to a transition stop or urban oasis—a place for people to pause for a while, reflect, converse, or recharge before moving on. Extending beyond its original functionality, it becomes a locus for the continual affirmation of a shared community.