UNFOLDING by Community Arts Guild at Nuit Blanche Toronto 2019. The city's mayor has proclaimed 2021 the Year of Public Art. Photo: City of Toronto, shared under a
Creative Commons License.
Canada’s largest city has declared 2021 as its year of public art. Mayor John Tory made the announcement on November 18, alongside the City of Toronto’s push on its draft public art strategy, covering 2020–2030. The strategy includes 21 actions, such as “create more public art opportunities for artists from equity-seeking communities” and “pool public art funds to produce new works in underserved areas of the city.” (backgrounder, press release, report)
Rodney Graham’s public artwork Spinning Chandelier installed under a Vancouver bridge—with some calling it a symbol of the city’s widening socioeconomic divide. The $4.8-million, 3,400-kilogram chandelier, constructed from stainless steel and more than 600 polyurethane crystals, was recently installed under the Granville Street bridge. Local real-estate developer Westbank, whose new condo Vancouver House is nearby, paid for the work, and it has sparked international attention, as well as criticism about its suitability given the city’s housing costs and crisis. (Maclean’s, CBC, CNN)
Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens win 2019 Giverny Capital Award. The $10,000 prize is presented every other year to a visual artist or collective from Quebec. This marks the prize’s seventh edition and the award was juried by a group of curators including Marie-Ève Beaupré, Louise Déry, Mary-Dailey Desmarais, Émilie Grandmont Bérubé and Marie-Josée Jean. (press release)
Matthew Hyland is the new executive director of the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver. The appointment is effective March 16, 2020. Hyland is currently director/curator at Oakville Galleries. He succeeds Nigel Prince, who led the CAG for nine years, prior to his move in September 2019 to lead Artes Mundi in the UK. (press release)
The MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina appoints artists Cat Bluemke and Jonathan Carroll to the positions of digital coordinators. The pair, who have exhibited at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, Kunsternus Hus and the Art Gallery of Ontario, will lead the creation of a new Digital Lab and collaborative digital arts training initiative at the gallery over the next two years—including the creation of a mobile media lab to deliver digital arts workshops across rural Saskatchewan. (press release)
Brock University and Rodman Hall Arts Centre are looking for a partner to help ensure the future operation of Rodman Hall in downtown St. Catharines. Brock has said it is challenged to sustain Rodman Hall on its own until its prior agreement ends in 2023. RHAC says it is hoping a new partner initiative will maintain the facility as a public art gallery, as it has been for the past 60 years. (Brock News)
The subterranean, five-kilometre long Art Souterrain Festival in Montreal has announced its 2020 themes, dates and curators. From February 29 to March 22, 2020, contemporary works of art by some 60 local and international artists will be assembled on the theme “RESET”. Curators include Juliette Bibasse (France), Marie Perrault (Canada), Lynn Bannon (Canada) and Dulce Pinzón (Mexico). (press release)
