THUNDER BAY – Work at Marina Park continues. This week, artwork has been installed at the park. Workers are enjoying the warm weather to continue making progress on the park. A series of 13 artistic wall panels have been installed beside the Baggage Building Arts Centre at Prince Arthur’s Landing. The artwork, entitled Embedded History, was produced by Steven Beites and Christian Joakim, part of the Toronto-based design team known as Kimiis.
Their artwork was selected through a competition open to local and national artists administered by the City’s Public Art Program.
Kimiis’ artwork navigates three thematic currents: history and culture, materiality, and discovery. The artwork began as digital imagery of calm and turbulent waters overlaid onto each other. The pattern was superimposed onto pine and cedar wood panels, which were milled and used to cast a series of rubber moulds. The moulds were then used to cast concrete panels.
The result is concrete that appears to flow like water, while having the texture of wood grains. The pine and cedar surfaces can be seen to represent the historical blending of the cultures, those of aboriginal peoples and French voyageurs. Historically, the site was a gateway for traders, voyageurs, and settlers, who shared a dependence on the area’s natural resources and network of waterways.
“These river routes became more than economic opportunities: they brought together two cultures, shaping the identity of the emergent Métis people” states Kimiis.
In keeping with the City’s Clean, Green and Beautiful policy, the City’s Waterfront Development Committee identified the incorporation of public art as a priority. City Council approved the allocation of 2% of the original capital budget for the City’s waterfront construction for the production of public art.
The artwork is currently within a construction zone but is visible from sections of the road leading to Pier 3. It will become accessible to the public this winter. From spring to fall a sheet of water will cascade over a portion of the wall.
For more information visit: www.thunderbay.ca/publicart