Post #85
Response to: “Mark Making” from Belonging to Place
Figure 1. Boris Kohut, Brother Bear, 30 August 2020, photo from https://roadsideattractions.ca/roadside/lcra1564.
I will be honest, before this class I did not realize or appreciate how complex and important public art is; I took public art for granted and never acknowledged its relationship to place. The episode “Mark Making” from the Belonging to Place podcast really demonstrated the immense amount of thought and community collaboration that is needed to create a successful work of public art. The episode focused on two major components of public art, one being the importance of reclaiming Indigenous narratives, knowledge, traditions, and land through public art. The other aspect of public art spoken about in this podcast placed great emphasis on public art being an accessible medium for community members to see themselves represented in the art.
For public art to be successful, as Dr. Serena Keshavjee outlined in the podcast episode, it must invite the public in and make them feel welcomed through accessible symbolism.¹ Dr. Keshavjee also highlighted the important role public art plays in memory creation and engagement with place.² I have learned that public art should reflect the community it wishes to engage with. The podcast spoke of a variety of processes which often lead to a successful work of public art: from hiring an artist who will take time to learn from the community and collaborate with the community to create a work of art, to hiring a local artist with knowledge of the local history and context, or through community intervention with an artist as mediator.
Since attending this class I am unable to look at public art as I passively used to. I now analyse the materials used, the specific placement of the piece, and I observe how the public interacts with it. There is so much power in effective public art. Public art can educate, critique and most importantly it has the ability to create a welcoming environment through intimate, complex relations to place.
While I was reflecting on this podcast episode, I could not help but be reminded of my first memory experiencing public art. It was May of 2005, little 8-year-old Jaye was walking down Broadway with their family and was confronted with- what felt like- hundreds of uniquely painted and costumed concrete bear sculptures. I was completely mystified by the Bears on Broadway. Bears on Broadway was a fundraiser for Cancer Care Manitoba and not city funded public art, however it was a large tourist attraction in Winnipeg during that summer.
I think Bears on Broadway is a good example to demonstrate the important role “place” plays in public art; once the location of a public art piece changes, the meaning and connection to place can be quickly severed. The multitude of Bears on Broadway were only gathered on Broadway Street for the summer- until they were sold to various institutions and dispersed across Winnipeg. Now, as an adult, I am no longer mystified by these bears. Seeing the occasional lonesome bear from this collection, isolated from its bear family, is not an accessible form of public art.
The example that immediately comes to mind is Brother Bear which is located in front of the Masonic Memorial Temple on Corydon Avenue. Without the cultural experience of witnessing the massive gathering of Bears on Broadway firsthand in 2005, seeing a bear dressed in Masonic regalia is, I think, a little confusing. How are bears related to the Masonic Temple? To me, Bears on Broadway was only successful due to the various combination of bears who together represented the “Winnipeg experience.” However, once the bears were divided across the city, that story and context was lost- demonstrating the important role place plays in public art.
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1 Julie Nagam, “Mark Making,” December 2020, in Belonging to Place, podcast, 41:35, https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/belonging-to-place/id1533749013?i=1000501383959.
2 Nagam, “Mark Making.”
Bibliography
Nagam, Julie. “Mark Making.” December 2022. In Belonging to Place. Podcast, 41:35, https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/belonging-to-place/id1533749013?i=1000501383959.
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Jayelyn Rae