Explore Red Deer’s public art collection

Take a day or two out of your Central Alberta staycation to explore the arts and culture Red Deer has to offer.

In addition to a thriving arts community, including a number of galleries, Red Deer is also home to more than 75 public art works, on display in city facilities, parks, streets and building exteriors. Little tells you more about the culture and vitality of a community than its displays of public art.

Seen as a collection, rather than individual pieces, public art can give you insights into a community’s sense pride and its collective identity.

We’ve listed a few to get you started. For a more extensive list visit of Red Deer’s public art, click here.

Recreation Centre – Nestled in Rotary Recreation Park, the Recreation Centre has a variety of paintings, prints and sculptures on display throughout the centre. Artworks include The Portals, small iridescent glass and ceramic tiles representing all the fish species that can be found in Alberta.

ReachingOut, by Eldon Neufeld.

The Ghost Collection – One of the largest bronze life-size sculpture collections in Canada, these pieces located throughout the heart of downtown Red Deer tell the story behind the community’s formation. Start your tour at the Recreation Centre with Reaching Out, a sculpture depicting a brother helping his younger sister climb a granite boulder and created to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Downtown Rotary Club. You’ll also see a number of other pieces including Sound the Alarm, Let the Music Play and Francis Wright Galbraith, who was Red Deer’s first mayor and also an owner of the Red Deer Advocate.

Building Memories, by Doug Driediger, Metrographics.

Art Alley – A collaboration between the City of Red Deer and the Downtown Business Association, Art Alley walls have been transformed by local artists with hand-painted original murals. The project includes nine murals on locations that include the Barbershop on Gaetz, The Buffalo Hotel and Fratters Speakeasy venue.