ELORA – The Elora Sculpture Project committee is ready to walk away from an agreement it signed with Centre Wellington township to erect a sculpture to honour Jack R. MacDonald.
In a phone interview June 4, interim committee chair David Cross said between losing a few key committee members and a difference of opinion with township staff on where the sculpture should be located, the committee has lost enthusiasm for the project and faith in the system.
“We advised the township we’re not prepared to continue,” Cross said.
“We’ll focus on the annual exhibit. We have no faith in the process.”
Cross said the committee has organized an annual temporary outdoor sculpture exhibit since 2011. It puts out a call to artists and selects the pieces from the submissions.
The committee also finds sponsors and donors so the artists can receive an honorarium. It doesn’t typically receive any township funds.
This year’s exhibit is on now until the fall with sculptures located in public places throughout Fergus and Elora.
Cross said the committee saw an opportunity in 2016/2017 for some permanent sculpture installations when the township received $3.44 million from the estate of businessman and philanthropist Jack R. MacDonald to use for public projects in Elora.
The township used about half of the funds to build the Jack R. MacDonald pedestrian bridge and make improvements to Mill Street West and the remaining funds were allocated to community projects through a granting application process.
The Elora Sculpture Project committee requested $150,000 to install six permanent sculptures in public places and parks in Elora.
Instead, it was awarded $25,000 to select and commission a sculpture to commemorate the legacy of Jack R. MacDonald.
Grants were allocated in 2018 and the Community Services Advisory Committee (CSAC) which is overseeing the MacDonald grants, has asked for reports on the incomplete projects.
Cross said according to the agreement signed with the township, the first step is to determine a site for the sculpture and this is where the project has stalled.
He said staff proposed the north piazza of the walking bridge along with some planter boxes, but in the summer of 2019, when the committee went to examine the site, it was under construction.
“Because it was not built, we could not determine if it would be good,” Cross said.
And even after the work was complete, Cross said the area was too congested and full of “visual clutter” for a sculpture to stand out.
The committee rejected the staff recommendation and proposed Victoria Park or MacDonald Square with a preference for Victoria Park.
“The [Elora Sculpture Project] committee’s preferred location is in Victoria Park, to the right of the pathway as one heads from the park entrance toward the stairway into the gorge,” reads a report the sculpture committee sent to CSAC on April 7.
“There is ample space here to allow much flexibility and creativity in the artists’ proposals.”
“The sculpture would stand on its own, attracting observers’ contemplation and appreciation, rather than be lost in an area congested with other fixtures, street furniture and signage.”
Cross said over time, “it became clear the township wanted a monument to MacDonald by the bridge – a bronze bust or statue.
“We wanted a piece of art to commemorate his contributions but the township has a different view.”
Cross said he’s been invited to speak to CSAC at its next meeting but he doesn’t expect to get the result he wants – which is for the Victoria Park site to be approved and the committee to proceed with a call for proposals for a sculpture, not a statue.
Chair of the Elora Fergus Art Council Beverley Cairns, who is a sculptor herself, has expressed interest in a statue of MacDonald.
“If Beverley Cairns and her group wants to do, they can go ahead,” Cross said.
Dorothy Smith, Centre Wellington’s manager of community development, festivals, culture and tourism, told CSAC she would have a full report on the matter at its next meeting in July.
