Artists Wartime Tribute Features A Dozen Decaying Ansons

A massive art installation in a farmer's field near Nanton, Alberta, is capturing attention as a unique kind of crop circle, one created by University of Alberta visual arts professor and artist Keith Harder which pays tribute to a piece of Canada's wartime past.

Carved from white gravel, grass and the dirt of an old pasture on a private farm by Harder and a team of volunteers, a large compass rose can be seen from the air. Each of its points is studded with the decaying wrecks of 12 Anson airplanes, which were used to train pilots of the British Commonwealth during the Second World War.

The project salutes the hidden stories and the roles these aircraft played during their heyday. The planes were rescued by Harder, a professor at the U of A's Augustana Campus, from a museum "boneyard" and given new life as an enduring art exhibit.

The installation measures 100 yards across and took 20 truckloads of gravel, six months of time and much maneuvering of heavy equipment to build. The project was supported with a University of Alberta President's Grant for the Creative and Performing Arts.

FMI: www.augustana.ualberta.ca