Artist Celine Rich was selected through an open, juried competition to participate in the development of Village Park East. This park, conceived as a principal feature of the Village North area of Whistler, integrated art as part of the park’s conception.
The artist proposed an extensive use of paving patterns to reference the effects of glaciation upon the landscape. Moraine patterns and the scars of left by retreating glaciers can be found throughout this park. The artist also cut scars in the paving and carved some fossil-like features in some pavers. (The latter features are becoming harder to find given the years of wear since the creation of this art work.) To the east, along the stream that flows through this park, there is a collection of glass snowflakes embedded in the ground and wall around the water source. The artist led a public workshop where Whistler residents carved snowflake designs in Styrofoam, which were then cast in recycled glass.
The water that flows through the whole Village Park system is from Fitzsimmons Creek. Fed by Fitzsimmons Glacier, located between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, the very cold, glacier-fed creek flows through town all the way to Green Lake. The water source for the Village Park stream is near the covered bridge over Fitzsimmons Creek. This stream flows between the three parts of Village Park, by Northlands Boulevard, through the Montebello property to a wetland and then returns to Fitzsimmons Creek. Occasionally, the flow of water in Village Park is stopped in response to the work of beavers damming the stream in the Montebello area.
