Politicians and the media got an early look at the new Royal Alberta Museum on Tuesday, but it was a piece of the past that resonated most with Ernistine Tahedl.
She created mosaic panels in 1965 that were installed on the wall of the Canada Post building, which used to occupy the site of the new museum. When the Canada Post building was demolished, the mosaic panels were saved and now sit outside the new museum on 104th Avenue.
When Tahedl, 74, heard about the planned demolition, she thought her artwork might be destroyed.
“I lost a few commissions before and thought, ‘Here we go again,’ ” said Tahedl. “Interestingly, I got an email from the historic department from the city of Edmonton asking if I was still alive.”
Tahedl moved to Montreal before the panels were ever placed in the post office. More than five decades later, she came back to Edmonton to see them installed in their new location.
Ernestine Tehedl worked on the mosiac panels 50 years ago and is thrilled they were saved and are on display. (Travis McEwan (CBC))
“It’s terrific, particularly because I feel very strongly they have new life and they have a more vibrant placement than the previous commission,” she said. “They’re very prominent and somehow have more impact.”
Tehedl emigrated from Vienna, Austria, not long before she started work on the mosaic. She didn’t know a word of English, but said she had no trouble finding work as an artist. She said the city’s first commercial art gallery opened around that time.
“Edmonton had just started to find it’s own. For an immigrant to have a pioneer spirit was unbelievably reassuring. It made me feel Canadian very quickly and I’ve never looked back. I’m very indebted to this city, and now again.”
One of her favourite things about the mosaic is that it has aged so well. She noted how much things have changed in that part of downtown over the past 50 years.
“I hate to say it, but it was not as vibrant as it is now,” she said. “This was not the centre. It was the CN Rail and the post office. Everything that happened was further over. It’s an amazing aspect that this is now a centre and a hub.”
These mosiac panels were created by Ernestine Tahedl more than 50 years ago. (Travis McEwan)
The panels are now on display outside the museum. The building will not be completed inside until late next year. The exhibits still have to be constructed and more than two million pieces will have to be moved from the former Royal Alberta Museum in Glenora.