The MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie is pleased to announce a project made possible by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation through the Ontario 150 Community Capital Grant program. With support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the MacLaren will conserve and make accessible two significant sculptures from its Permanent Collection for the public. As well, the Gallery will be able to continue to address much-needed repairs to Ron Baird’s Spirit Catcher (1986), a corten steel sculpture from the MacLaren’s Collection, on view on the shores of Kempenfelt Bay since 1987, ensuring its presence as an enduring icon in the Barrie landscape.
This summer, the MacLaren will conserve and install on its grounds two works from its Permanent Collection, Dream Chamber by Sorel Etrog and Shlosha by Kosso Eloul, sculptures by two individuals who immigrated to Canada, making their homes in Ontario, and became world-renowned artists. The sculptures will be installed on Collier Street in front of the Carnegie Library and at the corner of Mulcaster and Collier Streets, respectively. Executive Director Carolyn Bell Farrell remarks, “As a public art gallery, we are committed to presenting a wide range of artwork by contemporary Canadian artists for our audiences, indoors and outdoors. These installations—and the repairs to the Spirit Catcher—are exciting and necessary to revitalize this important community space while marking Canada’s sesquicentennial. We hope they will continue to inspire our imagination. We are grateful to the Ontario Trillium Foundation for helping to make this project possible, in addition to the support of the City of Barrie’s Public Art Committee and the Estate of Charles McCrea Peacock.”
The revitalized sculpture garden is a Canada 150 legacy project, marking this important national milestone. It also celebrates the centennial of the 1917 Carnegie Library that remains at the heart of the Gallery. The public launch and celebration are scheduled for September 29, 2017. That day the MacLaren will also honour the 30th anniversary of the installation of the Spirit Catcher at Barrie’s waterfront and the generous bequest from the Estate of Charles McCrea Peacock for its long-term care.
An agency of the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is one of Canada’s largest granting foundations. With a budget of over $136 million, OTF awards grants to some 1,000 projects every year to build healthy and vibrant Ontario communities. 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Canada and the Province of Ontario. For the Ontario Trillium Foundation, this milestone in Ontario’s history provides a unique opportunity to strengthen our communities and celebrate the people, places and events that make Ontario a global leader in diversity, creativity, innovation, accessibility and inclusion.
Credit: Kosso Eloul (Mourom, Russia, 1920 – Toronto 1995), Shlosha, 1974, Stainless steel, 1/3, 119.5 x 307.3 x 142.2 cm. Purchase, Horsley and Annie Townsend Bequest. Photo MBAM, inv. 1976.37
