ELORA – A project is underway to adorn the MacDonald Pavilion at the Elora Centre for the Arts (ECFTA) with a school of 75 aluminum fish.
The fish will “swim upstream” along the pavilion’s roof “as if spawning on the Grand River,” described metal artist and Elora resident Mike Hintermeister.
“The underlying message of this piece will speak to the importance of working together as a group to achieve success,” Hintermeister states in a proposal about the sculpture that he submitted to the ECFTA.
Each of the fish will represent a person or group who donates $2,500 to ECFTA’s Art of Possibility campaign.
The campaign supports the construction of a 3,500 square-foot addition to the centre’s existing building that will feature:
- a multi-use space for community gatherings, performances, exhibitions and other events;
- fully accessible spaces, including universal washroom facilities; and
- a new servery-style kitchen and other hospitality infrastructure.
The School of Fish art installation will include 75 aluminum fish and ‘speak to the importance of working together as a group to achieve success,’ states metal artist Mike Hintermesiter.
So far, 20 of the fish have been sponsored. ECFTA officials hope to have all 75 spoken for by the new year.
Hintermeister is donating his time to create the School of Fish sculpture as a way of “giving back to the community,” he told the Advertiser.
It’s a homage to David Boyle, he said, who was principal of Elora Public School from 1871 until 1881. The former schoolhouse is now home to the ECFTA.
The school of fish, Hintermeister said, symbolizes both that historic schoolhouse and the trout that spawn upstream in the Grand River “to lay and hatch their eggs so that the following cohorts could prosper.
“The ECFTA was the original school serving the area and this idea of nurturing and encouraging a legacy is aptly represented in this sculpture,” he writes in the proposal.
And the number 75 is a nod to the ECFTA’s address at 75 Melville St. in Elora.
The art installation will be installed along the side of MacDonald Pavilion’s roof, starting from the light above the structure’s name and reaching out about a meter in front of the roof’s highest point.
Volunteer chair of the Art of Possibilities campaign Sheila Koop said there will be a plaque on the side of the pavilion with the names of the 75 people and groups who sponsor each fish.
“We are encouraging people to gather in groups” to raise the $2,500, Koop said, such as book clubs, walking groups and service clubs.
“We love to encourage groups,” she said, because it “shows that community is involved with fundraising and growth ideas with the centre.”
The donations can be made as a one time gift or through a monthly giving commitment over one to three years.
ECFTA officials will be promoting sales of the fish at the “Moonlight at the Mill” gala at the Elora Mill on Nov. 7.
The goal is for the sculpture to be completed by June and installed on the pavilion in July.
