Canuck-lectic.
It's a shame it's not a word because it nicely sumps up many of the works Voyager Art & Tile owners and Dawn Detarando and Brian McArthur have produced in their 25-year journey creating sculptures, metalwork, tiles and mosaics.
Just a small sampling of their prodigious output has been pulled together in a retrospective called "A Balancing Practice: Voyager Art & Tile" at Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery, which runs until Aug. 23.
Dozens of works are on display showcasing the artists' technical mastery of clay, bronze, glass, metal and – don't forget they call Canada home – snow and ice.
Many of the pieces reflect a fond and often whimsical ode the Great White North and, particularly, the West. How can one not smile at McArthur's Gould's Birch Bark Variation. In McArthur's take in low-fired clay and glaze, the legendary Canadian pianist Glenn Gould sits hunched over his piano inside a birch bark canoe, one imagines being carried along by musical and river currents.
In another wall-mounted relief, Canada's beloved beavers pull out accordions and fiddles for a little flat-tailed jamming. Another sculpture depicts legendary French-Canadian strongman Louis Cyr pulling off one of his most legendary feats, lifting a platform with his back on which stood 18 men in Boston in 1895. For the record, that was 1,967 kilograms (4,336 pounds) worth of well-dressed, mustachioed Bostonians.
The largest piece is a life-sized caribou sculpture blinged out in electric-coloured mosaic tiles. There are also photos, plans and maquettes of some of their many public art commissions, including Edmonton's Southgate Mall's giant set of feet and lower legs created out of refractory bricks, mortar, glass and steel.
A maquette of their Star Gazer metal sculpture, featuring three aluminum canoes held vertically upright on a stand topped with a metal cutout of famed Western Canada explorer David Thompson getting his bearings with help from his trusty sexton. It was commissioned as part of Canada 150 celebrations and is one of 30 public art commissions they have tackled across Alberta.
Closer to home, McArthur's and Detarando's sense of humour, imagination and love of nature and wildlife can be found all over the city. The brick bunny, created in 2005 and relocated last year to the Dawe Community Centre reflects the melding of urban and rural environments. On the wall of Red Deer's Culture Services building (formerly Central Middle School) is the glass and metal Unity Through Sport piece commissioned for the 2019 Canada Winter Games.
A public work that show curator Marty-Beth Laviolette calls a "tour de force" can be seen at Dawe Community Centre. Meandering River, is a 36-metre long glass mosaic and homage to Alberta's myriad rivers, streams and creeks that leads visitors to the new track and fitness centre. It features the contributions in tile of 6,000 local school children who were reached through the couple's educational outreach effort, Voyager Art Inc., which has seen murals created in a number of local schools.
During the summer, McArthur and Detarando and for many years could be seen regularly up until several years ago at Red Deer's Public Market, surrounded by dozens of their popular tiles, featuring from Prairies and mountain scenes and a lineup of Canadian wildlife favourites from blue jays and bison to ducks and trout.
Detarando sees the show as an opportunity to offer a glimpse at a career, not just the latest creation.
"We know all the things we do. It was just really nice to organize it in a cohesive manner and see it all together," said Detarando.
"It's always hard for us to explain everything that we do and this show actually presents it in a nice, easy-to-view package.
"This show really brought everything together so it can be seen by everyone – and it's really understandable."
They've already heard from one person, who rarely steps inside museums, but emerged from Red Deer's a new Voyager Art & Tile fan.
"They were impressed and were excited to see what we did. That's kind of nice."
Red Deer-born and raised McArthur and Massuchetts-born Detarando started their first study together in the back of a two-car garage in 1999 and now live and work in Red Deer County, just south of the city.
McArthur graduated from Red Deer College's Arts Program in 1992 and followed up with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of Regina (1994) and Masters of Fine Arts from Ohio State University (1997). Detarando graduated from Masachusetts College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 1996 and a Master of Fine Art in ceramics from Ohio State University (1998). It was at Ohio State that the two met.
They have won numerous awards, including in 2009 a Lieutenant Governor General Emerging Artist Award for Detarando. Most recently, the couple received a 2024 Made in Alberta Award by Avenue Calgary magazine.
Judge Nichole Windblad said of their work: "I could automatically identify the difference in terms of craftsmanship in their work. Their originality and uniqueness is unlike anything I have ever seen."
The couple have also left their mark internationally. Detarando served an artistic residency in Australia, McArthur in Czechia. Their work has appeared in exhibitions in South Korea and Switzerland and, in the U.S., Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minneapolis and California.
Their sculpting talents have also taken them twice to Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, where they put a Canadian spin on rooms carved out of snow and ice for the famous Icehotel created every year 200 km north of the Arctic Circle.
