Art in public places has become the target of vandalism for a third time here, as select pieces of the Elora Sculpture Project have been repeatedly impacted.
“All of us on the committee were disappointed that these sculptures were damaged needlessly, more than once,” said Kent Smith, one of the Elora Sculpture Project committee members who coordinated the art displays.
“The feeling was that Elora was one of the last communities where you would see this [vandalism] happen, because of its rich history in the arts.”
Morriston artist Theresa Pankratz’s sculpture, entitled “God and Man House,” was vandalized on three separate occasions, in about a one month period. It was located on the corner of Metcalfe and Carlton Place.
“It was probably the piece people commented on the most … whether or not they liked it, they saw it and it made an impact,” David Cross, chair of the Elora Sculpture Project committee, said of Pankratz’s fluorescent pink painted wood sculpture.
He added, “It was damaged three different times. The last incident occurred only a week after she’d fixed it the [previous] time.”
Last week, Pankratz removed the sculpture entirely.
“I’m glad that most people were open to it,” she said. “I guess it was too handy maybe [to be vandalized] at night.”
While Smith and Cross understood the artist’s decision to remove her sculpture, they are unhappy with that outcome for both the artist and the sculpture project.
“I believe it is the first time Theresa’s done an outdoor public display of her art and she was really excited,” said Smith.
He pointed out two other sculptures were also targeted: an art piece outside the Upper Grand Family Health Team’s offices at 143 Metcalfe Street, which was damaged twice, and a sculpture of turkeys in the Elora Greenspace, at the corner of Mill Street West and Metcalfe Street.
“In all occasions, it looked as if it happened very quickly, as if someone walking by had quickly damaged them,” said Smith, who noted the vandalism always occurred on the weekend.
“The one in the green space took a great deal more effort.
The turkey had to be dismantled and repaired.”
Smith added none of the art is insured and each piece is worth an estimated $1,000 or more.
“Obviously it is pretty disappointing to see the damage done to the art,” said Cross.
“Maybe the public doesn’t realize that each of these sculptures is still owned by the artists, so they are here on loan. When they are here, and on our watch, it reflects badly on our community. It may make it hard in the future to have artists participate in the project.”
Pankratz was disappointed by the damage to her sculpture, but she took an optimistic outlook on the future of the sculpture project.
“You try and make the town beautiful and do interesting things,” she said. “It might take awhile until people catch on.”
