Folk art report: Gauging the mood in the Wildrose heartland

Dissenting folk art commentary, spotted just north of Airdrie.

An alert reader sends along this image of a carefully hand-modified sign, observed the other day on the west side of Highway 2 just within the northern boundary of Airdrie, the bleak Calgary bedroom suburb fortunate to be represented by Rob Anderson, the recently much-publicized addition to the Wildrose Alliance caucus.

It would appear that not all voters in the burgeoning community along the bonny banks of Nose Creek share the enthusiasm of the Calgary media for Mr. Anderson’s departure from the Progressive Conservative backbenches for the ranks of the Party of Oil.

And speaking of oil, this bit of folk art reminds me of the tin granary that for years graced a rise on the west side of Highway 2 just south of Red Deer, which boldly stated “RALPH KLINE BIG OIL PIMP” in messy black brush strokes.

Back in the day, during the Charlottetown Accord, the Meech Lake Accord or the Honda Accord, although which one exactly escapes me at the moment, the same granary bore the legend: “KEEP QUEBEC WE’LL TAKE THE NEWFS!”

Alas, that particular metal structure is gone now, so it may be harder to get a fix on just where rural Alberta’s graffiti painters stand on the phenomenon of the deepening Wildrose-Tory split.