Illuminature

The Work

Illuminature is a series of plates that bracket each of 24 pedestrian-scaled light poles along Bernard Avenue, Kelowna’s “Main Street”. The installation consists of 8 designs (each repeated 6 times for a total of 48 works) and were commissioned in conjunction with the Bernard Avenue Revitalization Project. The budget for the project was $60,000.00.

The selection process was an invited competition. Ms. Przybille’s submission was recommended by the evaluation panel from among 6 local artists who work in metal. Her designs reference aspects of the Central Okanagan's landscape, both indigenous and cultivated. Some of the designs represent indigenous species, and carry traditional importance to the original Okanagan/Syilx people, while other designs represent flora and fauna introduced to the Okanagan by European settlers.

The Project

The upgrading of Bernard Avenue to replace aging infrastructure began in September 2012 and was completed in June 2014. Public art was an integral component of Kelowna’s principal retail street. In the preliminary design phase, carried out with extensive consultation with Downtown stakeholders, the importance of creating a distinctive sense of place was emphasized. Public art was in turn set out as a means by which to achieve this goal with the consultant setting out a range of opportunities to be further explored. When the project moved into detailed design, two specific opportunities were settled upon. The first of these was Illuminature. The other was The Land is Our Culture.

The Artist

Born in Vernon, B.C., Crystal Przybille holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with Distinction from the University of Victoria. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in British Columbia, Quebec and the Netherlands, and has completed residencies in the Netherlands and Nunavut. Other works by Crystal in Kelowna’s Public Art Collection include Elemental and the Father Pandosy Mission 150th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture.

Viewing

The works are mounted on custom-designed light poles along Bernard Avenue between Richter Street and Abbott Street.