Sculpture News

City of Victoria Reviews its Public Art Policy

"I attended the meeting at City Hall last night regarding the city's policies on Public Art. The purpose of last nights meeting, and the two more to follow is too update the way the city deals with Public Art. The old policy was instituted in 1993 and needs revision. The city budget is small and the proposed changes will span the next 20-25 years. Everyone at the meeting was very excited by the speaker, Cath Brunner, who is the Facilitator for Seattle's Public Art4Culture for King County in Washington State. She explained firstly that we were not going to be talking about "Signature Art". Museum quality statuary placed in public settings. The ideas she put forward were more Artisan Assited works. ie. a bridge with an artistic railing, decorative manhole covers, fountains, murals in public buildings, iron fretwork gates, and water treatment plants turned into public parks. Some were very innovative, others not new. The meeting broke into small groups to discuss six questions:

  1. What are the benefits of public art?
  2. What types of public art would you like to see in Victoria?
  3. What do you think the best process would be for selecting public art?
  4. How do you think public art should be funded?
  5. What areas of Victoria or specific locations would you like to see more public art
    and why?
  6. What should Victoria's long term goals for public art include?
All these questions are on-line for anyone to complete this public survey, or I have hard copies if members want to mail them in. They ask that the survey be completed
by Oct. 30, 2009.
Fax: 250-361-0385
E-mail: gprice-douglas@victoria.ca
Mail:
Community Development Planner
Parks and Recreation, City of Victoria
1 Centennial Square
Victoria, B.C. V8W-1P6
If members think they would like to be invovled and want more information,
they can visit www.victoria.ca.

Gorge Waterway Park - Competition Brief

Status of Carr Will Grace Empress Site

Donations sought for work by Edmonton artist

Robert Amos, On Art
Victoria Times Colonist
November 20, 2008

The Parks and Recreation Foundation of Victoria is best known for greenways and Garry oaks, but at the moment it is leading the project for a commemorative statue of Emily Carr.

This will be a larger-than-life sized bronze of the artist and her dog, to be located at the southwest corner of the Farimont Empress hotel site. That's a choice little triangle at the corner of Government and Belleville streets, not more than a few blocks from where Carr was born – and died.

The artist, Barbara Paterson of Edmonton, began the project out of her own interst and respect for Carr. With some private support and the encouragement of Jan Ross, doyenne of Carr House at 207 Government St., Paterson created a small maquette of the statue that has attracted attention and donations at Carr House in the past two years.

Now the campaign to sponsor the full-scale statue has begun with the Times Colonist on board as media partner, part of its 150th anniversary legacy activities. Following a recent announcement of the project in this paper, donations have come in from across Canada and the U.S.. Currently corporate sponsors both national and local are being sought.

For full details of the project to date, visit www.prfvictoria.ca and look for Emily.