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Local Indigenous artist lights up Churchill Square for winter solstice

"Winter Solstice" sculptures in Churchill Square (Ryan Parker Photography)

Kerry McAthey
CTV News Edmonton
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Updated Dec. 20, 2021 4:34 p.m. MST

Three 16-foot fall figures lit up in Churchill Square form “Winter Solstice,” a celebration of the longest, darkest night of the year by local Indigenous artist Jason Carter.

“It’s really this moment to kind of sit and reflect about where you are, and what you’ve accomplished, and where you’re heading,” Carter said. “Kind of that moment where Mother Earth and Grandfather Sun and Grandmother Moon come together at this perfect zenith.”

Carter worked with the Downtown Business Association to develop the installation. He’s lived in Edmonton since early childhood, and is excited to be able to light up Churchill Square this solstice.

“For me to be able to have the work displayed and represented there for all Edmontonians to see, it’s humbling,” he said. “And what an honour to be able to share with my fellow Edmontonians in such a storied place – the centre of downtown.”

The Winter Solstice sculpture isn’t the only big project Carter has in the works. He has also designed and hand-painted 150 hockey sticks for the World Junior Hockey Championship.

At the end of each game, one player will be named “Player of the Game” and gifted a stick. Carter used the image of the grizzly bear to invoke the strength, power, fortitude and protectiveness he says is inherent in the hockey players.

“It means a lot because it’s these elite athletes that have pursued excellence for their entire lives,” Carter said. “And they’ve reached this…height of their sport, this point of their passion. To be able to have one of my sticks represent that pinnacle for them is truly humbling.”

The Winter Solstice art installation will be up at Churchill Square for a week after Dec. 21, the day of the winter solstice.