Waterlution, in partnership with Greatness - The Great Lakes Project, is looking for an artist in Owen Sound to help local residents connect and engage with the Great Lakes.
Project Lead Christopher McLeod says "Great Art for Great Lakes wants to celebrate the grandeur and importance of the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. We will fund a local artist to collaboratively create works of art with local residents that honourthe Great Lakes, share their stories and mark Canada's 150th birthday. It is crucial we connect with the Great Lakes so we can understand and safeguard them for our current and future quality of life."
According to McLeod, "when chosen, the Owen Sound artist will develop a participatory, community-based art project that will showcase what Lake Huron means to local residents. It will highlight the history and the diverse peoples of the lake, and share their stories." The innovative art project will be exhibited in a public space in Owen Sound throughout the summer of 2017, and move to a permanent display space afterwards.
Great Art for Great Lakes is sponsoring similar projects in seven other Great Lakes communities, including Kingston, Hamilton, Thunder Bay and Sarnia. Each community will host two public workshops or events to collaboratively create a permanent work of art to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. Great Art for Great Lakes is funded through the Canada 150 Fund and the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
"It is wonderful to be working with a person of Christopher's diverse experience and talents," says Karen Kun, the executive director and co-founder of Waterlution. "We knew we had to find the right person, a leader with an artistic background and a familiarity of the Great Lakes, and we found that person in Christopher."
McLeod will be travelling to all eight Great Lakes communities, speaking to local artists and residents and guiding the projects that will build on the long-lasting relationship people have with the Great Lakes.
Great Art for Great Lakes is part of a larger initiative: Greatness – The Great Lakes Project, which began at a 2015 roundtable convened by Ontario's Lieutenant Governor. The participants, drawn from business, the arts, science and sport, resolved that "a bold and noble initiative" could make the Great Lakes a powerful symbol of "greatness" for the 40 million residents of the Great Lakes basin. [email protected]
