ST. PAUL – Inside the St. Paul and District Arts Foundation is a mosaic depicting a tree has been created. It is the tree of life.
The tree of life is often represented in religions throughout the world’s history, including major religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. It is also represented in many cultures like the Celtics or the Norse.
However, a commonality among all of them is the tree’s main symbolism, depicted in its name – the source of life.
For Eric Spoeth, a St. Paul-based mosaic artist, who leads the creation of the project, says many of his artworks in recent years focuses on the idea of the source of life. “It’s this idea of... what do we owe?” he said.
“What are we receiving, and inheriting from others, that we are in turn, obliged to pass on and share," said Spoeth, explaining that for him, the source of life involves the idea of receiving and giving. This idea is also represented in the creation of the mural.
When people hear about murals, they often think of a painted mural created by a single artist, he said. But, for the tree of life mural, it’s a collaboration of over 20 people. It is a “mosaic mural,” said Spoeth, an art piece made up of small parts, including stones and marbles, to form a picture.
But for the mural, it also contains personal effects of people who contributed, spotted if one tries to find them. This includes a child’s tooth, an ancient fossil, broken pottery, and “some people brought little heirlooms, or little pieces that meant something to them,” said Spoeth.
In terms of community participation, many contributors came from a diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, such as members of the Hindu, Islam, and Christian communities, who etched a symbolism of their faith on the mural.
“Everybody’s putting in their fingerprint... and for me... it’s important not to whitewash the symbols, they become so generic that they’re meaningless. It’s about embracing religious diversity and allowing people the freedom to contribute their cultural heritage.”
Cultural heritage, for example, includes a leaf with the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
People also had the opportunity to imprint what may be something meaningful for them.
This includes what can sometimes be considered difficult and painful for people. The mural mosaic doesn’t shy away from that, said Spoeth.
“There’s a mother who created butterflies... a tribute to the children she lost. She lost a number of children before birth, and butterflies are always something that she would see around the time she discovered she had a miscarriage.”
Spoeth hopes that the mural mosaic may help serve as a cathartic healing not for just people who look at it, but for people who built it as well.
In addition to those who participated, Spoeth also credited Valerie Pratch, Richard Wilde, and Natalie Béland who assisted with the majority of the project.
The mosaic will be installed at a wall of the FIELDS St. Paul building along the main street at 4733-50 Ave. Installation will begin on July 19 weather permitting. It will take a few days to do the installation.
In theory, if installed properly, and if the building remains, Spoeth believes the mural mosaic will last for decades, “if not centuries.”
The St. Paul and District Arts Foundation project was funded through cultural grants from the Government of Alberta, and the Government of Canada.
