going, going… art

Sometimes a wave of nostalgia moves over you when you least expect it. In this case, sparked by an ugly building about to be demolished in Calgary’s Sunalta inner city neighbourhood – the Condon Building. My uncle and aunt lived nearby. As kids, my brother and I often wandered the area full of small businesses along 14th Street including the appropriately named Crook’s Drugs store. Frankly, while the Condon was the biggest building on the block it was unspectacular. At some point in the 70s (or was it the 60s? the 80s?) they added blue cladding or awnings or whatever. Apparently it was a major refit after a bad fire. The lipstick on a pig upgrade transformed it from anonymous to ugly. But that was then. It’s now mid-century chic. Calgary artist Lauren Shipton found the beauty in it as revealed in a print she has posted for sale on Instagram. Art finds beauty in unusual places, like this old office building about to be levelled to make way for a sparkling new development. Needless to say, I bought the print. RIP Condon Building.

My drive by photo of the Condon Building (above) A photo of the print I purchased by the artist Lauren Shipton luckyshape.com (below).