Confluence

Lethbridge is a unique, diverse, and interesting city. Situated in traditional Blackfoot territory in the shadow of the foothills, our community is a confluence of cultures. First People, settlers, and new Canadians all call Lethbridge home. There are a variety of faith groups, ethnic groups, and subcultures all working in tandem to keep Lethbridge vibrant. Sitting in the heart of a vast agricultural expanse, Lethbridge is a regional hub for commerce & culture, as well as an international journey’s end. This influx of people has brought some invasive species of flora and fauna, but also many that are helpful or at least benign; dandelions, wheat, honey bees, elm trees, brown trout, sheep, and sparrows. The artists have expressed this rich and varied cultural tapestry symbolically by painting a mural that imagines Lethbridge as both a garden and zoological menagerie. A garden teeming with both indigenous plants as well as introduced species. Grama grasses, sheaves of wheat, plains Cottonwoods, and mighty elms. Fantastical and playful animal hybrids will inhabit this garden; deer with sparrow heads, turkey vultures with hooves, or perhaps porcupines with the characteristics of a rock dove. The mural evokes a sense of whimsy, but also give pause for the audience to consider the cultural diversity of the city.