travel – OttawaVeloOutaouais

Ottawa Bench Art

Benches are inviting. They welcome passers-by to relax, if only for a short respite. There are examples of artists sculptural installations around town incorporating benches that play upon their special appeal. This bike tour visits a few of them.

Joshua’s Bench

We begin our tour at Joshua’s Bench by Harley Swedler, located on the east side of Colonel By Drive, facing the Rideau Canal.

The accompanying interpretive panel reads,

‘This bench was carved from a limestone boulder quarried in this region. The artist was inspired by memory of his sister, Ina, who loved this city and often enjoyed this same view. It bears the name of her cherished so, Joshua’.

Engraved into the back rests are the followng lines,

i know we will continue to be
as close as we are now…. forever

je sais que nous continuerons d’être aussi proches
que nous le sommes aujourd’hui, et cela, pour toujours

Oscar Peterson

Our next stop is the sculpture of Oscar Peterson located at the south-west corner of the National Arts Centre. To get there I biked north along the path on the east side of Colonel By Drive and crossed the Corktown Footbridge. I then rode along the Rideau Canal Western Pathway and then cut through Confederation Park. One might consider walking your bike the few meters along the sidewalk from the corner of Slater and Elgin to the sculpture located at the corner of Elgin and Albert St, as there is no bike lane along Elgin.

The accompanying interpretive plaque reads,

OSCAR PETERSON
1925-2007

Oscar Peterson emerged from the Montréal working class neighbourhood known as Little Burgundy to become one of the world’s greatest piano vituosos. His place in the international jazz pantheon is universally recognized.

With this sculpture by Ruth Abernethy, Canada’s National Arts Centre proudly commemorates the masterful contribution Oscar Peterson made during his 65-year career as a musician, recording artist, composer and mentor.

There is a generous section of bench to sit beside Oscar and listen to some of his music playing from an overhead speaker.

The Secret Bench of Knowledge

Our next sculpture is located in front of the National Library and Archives along Wellington Street. To get there I crossed Confederation Square and followed Sparks Street all the way to Bay St. I turned right on Bay and crossed Wellington which brings you right to our destination, The Secret Bench of Knowledge.

Heritage Canada’s website describes the work as follows,

This sculpture, created in 1993 by Lea Vivot, can be found in front of Library and Archives Canada, in Ottawa.

The artist came one night and put this work in front of the building. She later removed it, but not before the public had seen and liked it. A copy of the same work was later donated by businessman and philanthropist Eugene Boccia.

The sculpture is engraved with close to 100 handwritten messages about the joy and value of reading, contributed by both writers and ordinary people from across Canada.

Homeless Jesus

Our final stop is across the street and one block south on Sparks Street in front of Christ Church Cathedral.

Here’s how they describe this bronze sculpture on their website:

Recently, the Cathedral welcomed a new addition to the forecourt, a life-size bronze statue titled “Homeless Jesus.” In January, Cathedral Council gratefully accepted Bishop John Chapman’s offer to have the statue installed there.

The Bishop had arranged to have the statue given to the diocese by generous donors, and felt that the forecourt of the Cathedral was the very best place to install it— on the one hand to reflect the diocese’s extensive involvement in ministry with those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and, on the other hand, because the statue represents the voice and presence of people who are homeless or street-engaged.

The statue, created by Tim Schmalz, shows a person huddled under a blanket on a bench; only the wounds on his feet give an indication of who he is. “I saw this homeless man, and it was just a human form wrapped up in a blanket. And I thought, ‘That is Jesus.’ And I was so moved spiritually by thinking about this sensitive human being that is looking like a lump on the street,” said Schmalz. “Really, it’s a visual translation of Matthew 25, where Jesus says that whenever you see the most marginalized, broken people in our society, we should think of him.”

The installation will make Ottawa one of many cities across the world which feature the statue. There is room on the bench for passers-by take a seat and reflect quietly for a few moments, rather than quickly passing by, as we do too often with street-engaged women, men and youth. After the installation his spring, the Bishop presided at a special service of dedication, including representatives from our community ministries and participants who face homelessness.

So there you have it. Through the shared bench motif, all of these sculptures provide a clear invitation to physically engage in the works by proving room to sit within the piece.

Happy trails.

Ottawa Labour Day Ride: Visiting Sites Dedicated to Workers

Labour Day celebrates workers and the labour union movement across Canada on September 1st of each year. Here is a 5km bike ride that visits four commemorative installations dedicated to workers within the National Capital Region and beyond.

We begin our tour in Chinatown at the corner of Somerset Street and Empress Avenue where you will find the Chinese Canadian Railway Workers Memorial. This memorial pays tribute to the contribution and sacrifice of the 17 000 Chinese Canadian railway workers who helped build the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1880 to 1885.

leaving the Chinese Canadian Railway Workers Memorial, ride north along quiet Empress Avenue, then east on Primrose Avenue, and then north along Cambridge Street North which turns right and becomes Laurier Avenue. Follow the bike line along Laurier Avenue all the way to City Hall. Just beyond City Hall, before you take the bridge over the Rideau Canal, turn right on the short off-ramp, then turn left along the bike path that heads north under the bridge along the Rideau Canal. Just before reaching Sappers Bridge that passes under Wellington Street, you will encounter a short set of stairs. These have metal troughs along which you can push your bike to avoid having to carry it up the stairs. Ride under the bridge, then down the hill. The canal locks wil be to your right and Parliament Hill high up above to your left. Cross over to the other side of the canal across the second-to-last set of locks closest to the Ottawa River.

Once on the opposite side of the canal you will notice the Rideau Canal Memorial Cross dedicated to hundreds of Rideau Canal workers who died building the Rideau Canal betweem 1826-1832. An accompanying interpretive panel helps to explain the context in which these workers found themselves and the hardships they endured.

*Commemorative Cross dedicated to Rideau Canal workers*

Next, head up along the road to the left of the cross. At the top of the hill, turn right into Major’s Hill Park and follow the path indicated on the map to the Canadian Building Trades Monument.

As described in the accompanying stone engraved text, ‘This monument honours and celebrates the tradespeople who build and maintain Canada every day, and commemorates the losses they have endured in the workplace’.

The two principal vertical sculptures depict plumb bobs, tools used in construction since ancient times. The engraving goes on the explain ‘..they symbolize the intersection of earthly gravity and human ingenuity’. A number of other tools are etched into the long horizontal plinths located on either side of the plumb bobs, which double as benches for resting visitors.

Our final stop on this ride is just across the Ottawa River in Gatineau. Take the boardwalk bike lane over the Alexandra bridge, cross the intersection and continue along the Sentier de l’Île pathway that runs along Boulevard des Allumettières. Slightly before reaching Boulevard Maisonneuve you will see an interpretive panel dedicated to Les Allumettières . These were female workers in the local EB Eddy plant who fabricated wooden matches from the 1800’s up until 1928 when the plant closed. The working conditions they endured were extremely dangerous and unhealthy. This interpretive panel goes into more detail on the incredible challenges Les Allumettières encountered.

Have a great Labour Day!

Modernist Sculptures From 1960 to 1970

This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the first International Sculpture Symposium in North America that took place in Montreal’s Mount Royal Park. Back in 1964, twelve sculptors from around the world were given two months to create monumental works in stone and metal, eleven of which are still standing. This was a significant event in the introduction of modernist sculpture to Canada. A wonderful NFB film, La forme des choses, documents the on-site progress of the sculptors. In celebration of this event, the following bike tour visits a number of sculptural installations on display in our region that were conceived in the period leading up to and after Montreal’s International Sculpture Symposium, specifically from 1960 t0 1970.

We begin with Samothrace by Quebec artist Armand Vaillancourt. This cast iron sculpture was created in 1966, just two years after Montreal’s International Sculpture Symposium which Valliancourt participated in. Samothrace is installed on Sussex Drive, between the York Steps and the Connaught Building.

Our next stop is along the Rideau Canal where sits Meditation Piece by Elza Mayhew from British Columbia. This bronze sculpture was commissioned in 1966 for the EXPO 67 Sanctuary Building in Montreal. The building was pyramid shaped and this piece was placed in the centre, around which benches were installed for quiet meditation.

Up on the National Arts Centre roof terrace you will find this massive untitled bronze sculpture by Charles Daudelin. He began to conceive this work in 1965 when he was invited to participate in a competition for this site specific design. Because of the imposing mass of the new National Arts Centre building Charles saw the need for a sculpture to be on a horizontal plane to fittingly occupy the space. He chose to place it on stilts to create an impression of lightness. The final work was completed and installed in 1968. To view this amazing work you will need to climb a short flight of stairs (i.e. carry your bike) easily accessed just behind the sculpture of Oscar Peterson on Elgin Street.

A few blocks west on O’Connor Street stands Ancestor I by British sculptor Barbara Hepworth. It is from a series of nine sculptures titled The Family of Man which she sculpted in 1970. Various casts of the works can be found worldwide. It is one of the last major works that Barbara Hepworth made before she passed away in 1975.

Infront of the Bank of Canada building on Wellington you will find Flight by Sorel Etrog. This sculpture was commissioned in 1966 to be displayed in the Canada pavillion at Expo 67.

Next we cross the River and weave our way to a small island situated at the start of the Ruisseau de la brasserie in Gatineau. Near the southern tip of this small island sits Explorateur II by Victor Tolgesey. Constructed in the period leading up to the first lunar landing, this piece made from Corten steel resembles a stranded space explorer resting in this serene setting. Tolgesy was born in Hungary and emigrated to Canada in 1951. From the early 1950’s to 1980 he lived and worked in Ottawa.

Here ends our bike tour of some great modernist public sculptures conceived in between 1960 and 1970. Have a safe ride.