Ontario Construction News staff writer
Lakeview Community Partners Limited and Artscape Atelier say they have selected 19 selected GTA artists for more than $100,000 in paid work opportunities at Lakeview Village, a 177-acre mixed-use community to be built on Mississauga’s waterfront.
Sculptor, Ryan Longo; visual artist, Raquel Da Silva; painter, Lynn Taylor; poet, Duke Redbird; visual artist, Daniela Rocha (artist alias Planta Muisca); and 14 muralists, including several from Mississauga, have been chosen to animate the site with art. The completed pieces will include more than 1,600 linear feet of artistic works situated near a field of sunflowers set to bloom at the project site this summer.
“We were impressed with the caliber of submissions by each of these artists,” Artscape chief strategy officer Assaf Weisz said in a statement. “Now more than ever, artists have an important role to play in bringing our shared spaces to life. Together, these pieces will anchor the site in its historical roots, convey messages of healing for our present condition, and introduce a hopeful image of the future.
“We look forward to seeing their work at the Lakeview Village site throughout the summer months.”
“We are excited to collaborate with Artscape and local artists to create a beautiful and immersive way for community members and visitors to enjoy the Lakeview Village site during the construction process and beyond,” said Brian Sutherland, director of development, Argo Development Corporation, and development lead for Lakeview Village. “We are passionate about placemaking and look forward to welcoming the community back to experience the magic of a horizon of sunflowers at our site again this summer, this time with the stunning integration of original art honouring the waterfront.”
Artist Ryan Longo has been selected to create an Interactive Art/Sculpture to be installed at the top of the sunflower field in July. The finished sculpture will serve as both a focal point and gathering place to view Lake Ontario.
Raquel Da Silva has been selected to bring life to the construction hoarding with her proposed abstracted ‘flipbook’, which explores the theme of reconnecting with the surrounding nature, specifically that which is native to the Mississauga community.
Lynn Taylor, based in Mississauga, will create a visual land and heritage acknowledgement and poet, Duke Redbird, has also been commissioned to complete the poetic narrative that describes Indigenous life along the waterfront. Both works will also to be incorporated into the construction hoarding design.
Canadian-Colombian artist Daniela Rocha (Planta Muisca) will paint a nature-inspired mural that will feature animals and vegetation native to the Mississauga region. Her focus on local plants and animals will encourage visitors to embrace and connect with nature during these uncertain times.
Fourteen other artists will complete the Sunflower Lane Mural Wall Series, a multi-artist mural that will run parallel to the sunflower field to share “the message they believe the world needs to hear right now”. The selected artists will each produce a mural at the site while honouring social distancing practices. The creation process will be safely filmed, shared with the public via social media channels, and physically revealed this summer, pending regional health measures.
Each of the artworks will be installed on the current redevelopment site of Lakeview Village on the former site of the Lakeview Generating Station.
More information and full bios of selected artists can be found at: www.mylakeviewvillage.com/art-of-placemaking