The Calgary Stampede unveiled their 2024 poster on Nov. 24, and as a first for the organization’s long history of posters celebrating the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, celebrated their own much beloved Calgary Stampede Parade.
The poster, created by recent Alberta University of the Arts graduate Lloyd Templeton, features images that evoke the strong connection that Calgarians have, Templeton included, to the annual parade.
His work also prominently features Stoney Nakoda tipi holder and language teacher Duane Mark, wearing his father’s traditional regalia.
“When I was a little boy, my favorite memory of the Stampede was going down on a cold, dark morning—I was shivering, it’s always people huddling and didn’t know what’s going on—and then the sun would rise and the streets would warm up and it’d be filled with horses and people of every kind,” said Templeton.
“That visual was so striking and I felt like such a part of a community there, and it was such a unique Calgary experience that it’s stuck with me forever.”
This year’s winning entry into the Calgary Stampede poster contest was Templeton’s third.
“I kept competing in the program because I had such a positive experience. Getting to focus every year on a big piece of artwork and having the support of artists, mentors, the Stampede team, it was such an amazing experience that even when I didn’t win, I felt like I’d won in some way,” he said.
The Calgary Stampede’s president and chair of the board, Will Osler, said that the Stampede has always been a place where First Nations could speak their language, share traditions and have ceremonies.
“To have the 2024 poster so beautifully capture that relationship and the importance of continuing to celebrate language and culture is incredibly meaningful, and a representation of what the Calgary Stampede stands for,” he said.
Stoney Nakoda culture and language a big part of the 2024 poster
He described getting to share Mark’s story as well as part of the art as an incredibly special part of being chosen as this year’s poster contest winner.
The work has been given the title Wîchîspa Skadabi Odâginabi, which was gifted to Templeton for the naming of the painting by Mark. Translated from Stoney Nakoda, the name means celebrating the Calgary Stampede.
“Duane actually explained to me, which I thought was quite beautiful, that the spirits and the ancestors can’t hear the prayers unless they’re in the Stoney Nakota language. So preserving it’s very, very important,” said Templeton.
“I thought if I happen to win and get to share my piece with the world, I’d really like to share a little bit of Dwayne’s work with the world as well. And I asked him if he’d be willing to help me come up with a title and that’s how he gifted me the title.”
Templeton said that he and Mark had formed a special friendship throughout the artistic process, and through their shared love of the Calgary Stampede Parade.
“I got to meet with him many times and we formed a really close friendship. We talked about a number of things, and of course, talked about our shared love of the parade and the Stampede, but also about family culture, our futures, and we had a lot in common,” he said.
“I want to put them kind of front center so you can get the feeling of the parade but also the feeling of being in the parade through his eyes.”
As a tribute to his own parents, Templeton included a small easter egg of them watching the parade from a balcony along the imagined parade route.
Oils on canvas, emotion on paper
The original painting, which formed the basis for the 2024 poster, was created using oils on canvas.
“The Stampede poster program actually introduced me to oil paint in the first place. Prior to that, I mostly worked in acrylic and watercolour, but seeing the artist mentors Doug Levitt and Michelle Grant work with oil, I really fell in love with it,” Templeton said.
“It’s such a versatile medium that has a beautiful luminosity because of the way the paint works. The last couple of years I’ve been working more and more with oil, and it’s one of my favorite things to work with now.”
He said that the medium allowed him to capture the intensity of the colours and emotions that he wanted to convey in his work.
“I wanted you to really feel the energy and excitement and anticipation. The parade is the official kickoff to the Stampede, so the anticipation, excitement is through the roof on parade day,” Templeton said.
“If you’re a spectator you get to see from a certain angle, you’re looking in. But here I thought, having it come through you, come towards you, that’s something you don’t get to see every day. I thought it was a unique approach that would hopefully be impactful… and compositionally, too, I wanted to exaggerate the perspective and the colours and just give an overall feeling of energy and excitement and height to the piece.”
Templeton said that he hoped that the poster would resonate with Calgarians, the way the parade resonated with him as a child.
“If they have an experience with the parade themselves, I hope that it brings back warm memories. But if they’ve never experienced the parade, I hope it spurs them to check it out because it’s awesome. It’s one of the best things Calgary has to offer,” he said.
