Canada's first Happy Wall comes to Edmonton

City officials hope a new public art displayunveiled Wednesday will help bring people downtown, despite ongoing construction work.

A Happy Wall, an interactivepublic art installationmade of more than1,000panels ofcolourful reclaimed wood has now found a home in Sir Winston Churchill Square. The pixel art displayallows people to create messages or images byflipping the wood panels on the public art piece.

City officials said therehave been fewer people in Churchill Square due to construction for the Valley LineLRTand the Stanley A.MilnerLibrary.

Organizershope this public art piece will bring more people to the area.

'Something that everyone can come play with'

6 years ago

Duration 0:52

City hopes interactive display will let people know Churchill Square is still open during construction projects

"We thought that the Happy Wall would make a fantastic addition that everyone can come and play with and enjoy. It's everchanging, dynamic and colourful for the square," said Bob Rasko, Churchill Square programmer.

When asked if he is concerned aboutderogatory messages, Rasko said the pixel art installation will be changed frequently.

"The Wall itself is kind of like a publicspeakers' cornerif you will," he said.

Table tennis, chess boards and basketball hoops are all still available to the public too in thearea.

The Happy Wall, an internationally-popularidea,was first designed in Copenhagen by artist Thomas Damboin 2014 to help revitalizeconstruction sites.

Since then, it has been used in Denmark, Chile, Brazil and throughout theU.S.

The Happy Wall will remain a fixture in Edmonton's Churchill Square untilMay 2019.