'Public Art Now' Tour – Downtown Area
Artwork: Site Lines by Jhyling Lee
Tour Locations
The 'Public Art Now' Tour of London's Downtown features public artworks that many Londoners pass by often, whether on their commute to work or while shopping or attending a concert or sporting event. Through these informative and insightful podcast-style videos, there's the potential to begin to see these artworks differently - their surprising details and fascinating histories - breathing fresh life and understanding into our everyday surroundings, and inspiring us in our daily lives.
Each video features a conversation between local artist Amsa Yaro, and LAC's former Curator, Public Programs and Learning, Jeremy Jeresky, along with footage of the artworks captured by local videographer Stefan Sago.
This project was made possible through partnership with the City of London, and supported by the City of London's London Community Recovery Network Funds.
WE ARE STILL HERE
Mike Cywink, 2022
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Seven (7) panel mural on the South side of the N'Amerind Friendship Centre (260 Colborne St.)
In 2022 Ojibwe educator and visual artist, Mike Cywink, together with NโAmerind Friendship Centre, The City of London, and the London Arts Council, created an expansive and historically significant mural on the South side of the NโAmerind Friendship Centre. The artwork is called We Are Still Here, a title which Cywink and a group of local Residential School Survivors decided upon to honorably reflect, give voice to, and commemorate their resilience and lives. It was officially unveiled on September 30, 2022, during a ceremony to honour the lives of Residential School Survivors and children who were lost through the Residential School System. Hailing from Whitefish River First Nation, Cywink has a longstanding and close relationship with NโAmerindโs community members, staff, and leaders. As a mentor, Cywink painted the mural with a group of Indigenous youths who sought to stimulate public conversation about the legacy of Canadaโs Residential School System. Therefore, each of the seven (7) panels provide insights into the Seven Grandfather Teachings while telling the story of Canadaโs Residential School Survivors, including the children who were lost through the system. However, We Are Still Here is also a story of hope, courage, new beginnings, and a celebration of Indigenous arts, culture, and knowledge. Cywink acknowledged this sentiment when he said โThe ones who walked before us fought to keep our ways of life going. They ensured our teachings; ceremonies and our spiritual connections would live on. Through every action, their thoughts were with us. As we move forward together, we must never forget what has happened. We have survivors who walk amongst us, we have children of survivors who are dealing with intergenerational trauma and trying their best to break the cycle of pain and hurt. No matter what we do, we must always think of the next group coming next. Whether it is the youth of today, the newborns or the ones who are coming 7 generations from now. We must always think of them in everything we do.โ Cywink designed and painted the mural in the Woodlands style, which builds on the Ojibwe traditions of petroglyphs (drawings or carvings on rocks) and images made on birchbark scrolls. Key features of this style are heavy black outlines and the inclusion of images within images. Another notable feature is the use of vibrant colour combinations. For more information about the mural, please visit: https://www.indigenouslondonarts.ca/
VIDEO TOUR
UNESCO CITY OF MUSIC MURAL
Tova Hasiwar, 2021
Five (5) panel mural on the main lobby bulkhead of RBC Place London (300 York St.)
On November 8, 2021, the City of London was recognized as Canadaโs first UNESCO City of Music. What better way to celebrate this occasion than by the creation of a music-themed mural by one of Londonโs talented visual artists? Tova Hasiwar, a passionate supporter of the London music scene, worked with The City of London, the London Arts Council, and RBC Place London to paint a five-panel mural at RBC Place London โ a place where people from all over the nation and the world come for special events, conferences, and conventions. Hasiwarโs process was rooted in her experience with the local music scene, the practice of process-based art, and her love of pop art. Brightly painted on fine mahogany boards, the mural features Hasiwarโs characteristic layered approach; deploying interlacing broad arcs, painted in a repeating series of crisp lines covered by an array of neon green spray-painted dots that depict sound waves on a digital monitor. All of this was done while live musical performances were happening in her studio. A series of resin dyed clear circular forms, reminiscent of vinyl records or CDs, repeat across the length of the mural, giving the impression of movement of both time and space โ playing a visual and visceral cue to a song in the viewerโs mind. One thing is for certain, as Hasiwar remarks, โLondon draws talent from neighboring communities, weaving together a meaningful collaboration of various cultures and identities.โ This unifying aspect, a harmony of sorts, flows through the entirety of the mural, doing the thing that music does best โ connecting. To plan your visit, please check RBC Place Londonโs website for their operational hours: www.rbcplacelondon.com/upcoming-events
PEOPLE AND THE CITY
Stuart Reid and Doreen Balabanoff, 1991
Corner of Wellington St. and Queens Ave.
People and the City was designed by Stuart Reid and Doreen Balabanoff. Installed in 1991, it is a civic monument that pays tribute to the peoples of London, from its Indigenous roots, through the latter half of the 20th century. The central figure is a cross section of two profiles, one embodying the First Nations, the other representing John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. The artwork encompasses a solid flat bronze sheet with a series of cathedral like windows โ evincing a medieval reliquary, that houses outlined silhouettes of notable figures from Londonโs past. Situated across the street (on the East side of Wellington) is a bronze map that labels each window and the names of the represented figures. For example, the top two windows portray Indigenous Peoples and Early Settlers, the middle windows feature people who are recognized in the fields of Politics and Law, Religious Leaders, Service and Activism, and Humanitarians, while the bottom six windows depict people celebrated for excellence in Philanthropy, Research, Education, Business, Industry and Labour, Sports and Entertainment, and the Arts. The form of the artwork references the city as a built construction, shaped by the forces of architecture and by the people who construct and reside in it. At the time of its fabrication, People and the City was created by cutting edge technology whereby a concentrated water jet spray, controlled by a computer program, slowly cut through the slab of bronze to create intricate forms out of negative space. A limestone base was constructed to give the sculpture further height and complement the bronze material.
VIDEO TOUR
FOREST CITY PLAYGROUND – MARKET LANE MURALS
Hawlii Pichette, Meaghan Claire Kehoe, and Stephanie Boutari, 2019
Market Lane (139 Dundas St.)