If you wandered through Crescent Park in the last few weeks of May, you likely noticed plenty of commotion outside of the Moose Jaw Museum & Art Gallery and Moose Jaw Public Library entrances.
Three local artists were hard at work creating new wood carvings from old tree stumps that the park caretakers identified as being ready to be cut down, which are now finished and ready to be viewed anytime.
The purpose of the Tree Carving Project, first introduced in 2016, is to create art from the remains of these trees for the public to enjoy, instead of just removing them entirely. Organized by the Crescent Park Foundation, the project is made possible by a supporting grant from the City of Moose Jaw and a partnership with the MJMAG.
Moose Jaw Today staff stopped by during the process to chat with each artist about their artwork for this year’s project.
Karen Watson, Moose Jaw:
Watson is a Moose Jaw-based artist who has around six other wood carvings on display around the area already, including works on Hochelaga Street, on South Hill, and even a carved peacock at a house on 1st Avenue that used to belong to Albert E. Peacock himself.
For the Crescent Park project, Watson designed a totem-style carving inspired by the long history of the Moose Jaw Band Festival.
“Moose Jaw used to be known as the band capital of North America, so when I was planning what to do for this project, I wanted to have something for Moose Jaw [to] honour the history of the Band City,” said Watson.
Her design features a marching band hat, xylophone, drum, and music notes twisting around the shape of the tree stump, topped with a saxophone, to show the vast range of musical talent that calls Moose Jaw home.
“The idea is that you can walk around this and it should be interesting from all angles,” said Watson. “And I’m happy not that [the stump] is on a lean, I feel like it kind of adds to the music, the sway.”
Watson said the experience of being in the park working, where the public could stop and interact with her, was really a chance for her to expand as an artist. She said many people stopped to talk, telling her stories about their own time in one of the many bands in the city.
“I feel extremely honoured and very grateful they included me, and I’m a shy artist so being out in the open actually helped me grow a lot, in my art,” said Watson. “And I feel like it’s more than my art. I’m hoping that it’s everybody’s.”
Karen Watson’s finished carving, inspired by the Moose Jaw Band Festival, done on a stump just inside the Crescent Park entrance. / (photo by Larissa Kurz)A bird, finished with a reddish stain, was inspired by the nature inside Crescent Park itself, said Stearns.
“They’re native around here and a lot of people see them down in the park,” said Stearns.
During the carving process, Stearns said he discovered some rot inside of the stump which forced him to alter his design slightly, but he feels it came out even better than imagined.
“I wanted to do it in flight because of how the tree curved, [and] I changed the angle of how the bird is flying,” said Stearns. “I used scraps from the log to add the tail feathers into the back of it, so it has more of a curve, like it’s flying.”
Like Watson, Stearns is also a local carver who has previous pieces scattered throughout the city. He counted nine current pieces of his art in Moose Jaw, including an Easter Island head in Wakamow Valley and several tiki carvings around town.
He said he had first applied to the Tree Carving Project in 2016 but was not selected, so being able to take part in this round and add his mark to the park was very exciting for him.
“I’m honoured,” said Stearns. “I’m local, so my kids will grow up seeing it too because we’re all from here.”
The red-tail hawk in flight design by artist Dustin Stearns, located just outside the Moose Jaw Public Library. / (photo by Larissa Kurz)Kamron Garbe, Regina:
Garbe also chose a nature-inspired design for his contribution to the project, carving an elegant blue heron into his designated tree, surrounded by river reeds and cat tails familiar to the Moose Jaw river beds.
Garbe said he chose the heron as a nod to the value of spending time in nature, including urban green spaces like Crescent Park.
“I really like nature, and I’m a big outdoors guy, and I’ve seen the heron in the rivers before in Regina,” said Garbe. “I just wanted to do something that people would actually see locally and bring a bit of wildlife into the park.”
Garbe, who is a sculptural artist from Regina, said he does this kind of chainsaw carving mostly in his spare time when the weather permits.
This is his first carving in Moose Jaw, and he said he feels great about being able to take part in the project this year.
“Any opportunity to bring a tree back to life is worth it, whether it's a paid gig or a free gig, and I absolutely love carving,” said Garbe. “It’s an honour, and I feel quite lucky to be given such a beautiful stump to work with.”
Regina artist Kamron Garbe chose a blue heron, familiar to river ecosystems like the Moose Jaw River, to pay homage to the experience of nature. / (photo by Larissa Kurz)
