by Gabriel Fain and Harley Valentine
Gala Gateway + Gala Procession are permanent public art sculptures that trace inspiration from the natural elements of Canada and the dynamism of performing arts. The artworks create tension through their materials: rough and smooth, hard and soft, heavy and light. The large stones contrast with the precision and lightness of the steel frames.
Valentine & Fain present this pairing by drawing on their unique backgrounds disciplined in the arts, performing arts, and architecture worlds.
Photo credit: Tori Lambermont.
Roundabout at Duke of York and Square One Drive
Aluminum and epoxy paint
An aluminum sculpture of eight colourful arrows. The arrows are inspired by the colours and shapes of oversized 1950s roadside signs and point to the future and the City's vision for a new vibrant, pedestrian friendly, urban downtown.
Crosswalk at Duke of York Blvd and City Centre Drive
Paint on asphalt
Crosswalk markings using stop-motion Pedestrian Crossing figures.
Council chamber domed ceiling.
Cast aluminum and concrete.
Gold and blue mural of Ojibwa legend in constellations, 30 metre diameter.
Living Arts Centre grounds
Cast aluminum and concrete
Square water feature with flooring made of panels incorporating letters of the alphabet.
Living Arts Centre grounds.
Stone.
Sculpture of layered binary numbers.
Living Arts Centre grounds.
Stainless steel.
Large stainless steel sculpture depicting stacked books.
Living Arts Centre grounds
Stainless steel
Metal screens depicting bar-codes
SW side of Living Arts Centre.
cedar wood and steel.
Sculpture of ancestral goats or musk oxen.
Fully restored in 2014.
Harold E. Kennedy Park, Port Credit.
Limestone bases and granite.
The sculptures are positioned to echo the flow of the Credit River and to become an extension of the children's play area. The nine elements of the artwork include the following: a shell, tree, fish, fox, rail, boat, tank, lion and hive.
Duke of York and Burnhamthorpe.
Aluminum and sand-cast glass.
Two sculptures of laser-cut panels of birds inset with sandcast glass. The two-part sculpture recalls the story of the passenger pigeons that used to number in the billions as they flew across the southern coast of Lake Ontario during their migrations and would roost on the southern edge of Mississauga. The artwork also references the Mississauga First Nations people who were drawn to the area because of the rich and vibrant landscape which included the passenger pigeons.
Community Common Park.
Cor-Ten Steel.
Large scale sculpture presents a gesture of a seated child in repose and speaks to the connection between family and community.
Contemplating Child is a large-scale, 3,500 pound steel public art sculpture that was installed in September 2014 at Community Common Park in Mississauga. Located on the park's south-east corner at Living Arts Drive and Princess Royal Drive, the sculpture is one of over 35 public artworks on display citywide; 17 of which are part of the City's Public Art collection.
7 Mississauga Transitway Stations.
Coloured architectural glass and bronze.
The artwork uses a combination of sculptural components made of cast and fabricated bronze, architectural glass, colour changing LED lighting and touch sensitive triggers to engage the audience. Building Colour stages the tools and equipment of glass installation, simulating a work site which is momentarily unoccupied by its workers.
7 Mississauga Transitway Stations.
Coloured architectural glass and bronze.
The artwork uses a combination of sculptural components made of cast and fabricated bronze, architectural glass, colour changing LED lighting and touch sensitive triggers to engage the audience. Building Colour stages the tools and equipment of glass installation, simulating a work site which is momentarily unoccupied by its workers.
GO Erindale Station.
Hand carved Indiana limestone and bronze elements.
A two-part sculpture that engages residents, commuters and the local community on a playful and spiritual level. The artwork was inspired by Mississauga's rich heritage and reflects on a voyage of both past and present. A bronze eagle sits at the top of the large sculpture, as a symbol of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation; a subtribe of the Anishinaabe, who were great messengers, often travelling hundreds of kilometres on foot to deliver messages. Daetwyler collaborated with the City of Mississauga, Metrolinx, the local community as well as the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation to create the sculptures.
Originally commissioned by GTAA and Hillside Media Communications Ltd. in 2006
Fully reconditioned by City of Mississauga and permanently installed in 2016
4.3m x 5m x 3m
carbon steel and epoxy
Mississauga Celebration Square (SE corner)
The Book is a large-scale painted steel sculpture with two pages torn away from its spine. The spine is perpendicular to the ground, the covers are open, and the pages appear to blow in the wind animating the space between the Central Library and the Civic Centre at Mississauga Celebration Square. The pages are patterned with clusters of words and symbols referencing the origins of writing and the human body. The artwork has been generously donated to the City of Mississauga Public Art Collection by Hillside Media Communications Ltd. in collaboration with Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA).
24' x 24' x 21'
Painted, laser-cut aluminum
Located at the entrance to Riverwood Park
Pine Sanctuary is a large-scale aluminum sculpture which acts as an iconic signal from afar, and offers a dynamic experience of space and light from within. A mystical enclosure at a scale between sculpture and architecture, the structure creates a space that can happily host activity from spontaneous play to quiet contemplation. Like its neighbouring pine trees, no angle or view ever repeats itself exactly; every step both inside and out prolongs the sense of discovery. The artwork creates a unique identity for Riverwood and was designed and built through a process of computational design and digital fabrication. This project was funded in part, under the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program (CIP), in recognition of Canada's sesquicentennial anniversary.
Photo credit: Light Monkey Photography
Cast bronze elements
A permanent public art sculpture that stands at the entry to the Central Library and Mississauga Celebration Square as a monument to remind the local community of the rich history and diversity of this particular site. Thirty birds gather on and around a white steel tower and cupola that is an artistic replica of the tower that tops the historic Council House built 132 years ago on the New Credit reserve in Hagersville - the land the Mississauga people moved to in 1847 from their ancestral home on the Credit River in what is now known as the city of Mississauga.
Perched on and around the tower sit thirty birds, cast in bronze and painted in vivid colours. The birds are portraits of avian citizens in the region, both local and migratory - interpretations of drawings done by local residents and members of the New Credit First Nation community, of actual birds seen in backyards, parks and walkways within the community. Spreading the invitation to the diverse local community to give special attention to the wildlife that share the living space of the city is a method of passing on aboriginal concepts of philosophy, respect and living in balance with all of creation.
Fossil Record is a permanent public art sculpture that was installed as part of the Meadowvale Community Centre Development. Fossil Record is an expression of geological time in physical form. In geological time tectonic plates shift, the atmosphere fluctuates, biological life emerges and vanishes. Reminiscent of an unearthed artifact or cast-off shell inviting new habitation, the sculpture speaks of the placement of human experience within a broader continuum, reminding us of our place within extended timelines, our environment, and of our own sustainability as a species.erse community that populates this land today, bearing witness to this historical alternative and to the possibility of a future of peaceful, thriving, diversity and mutual care.
Cor-Ten Steel. Located at the entrance to Saigon Park.
A Year in Weather appropriates hieroglyphs to represent four months of weather in Mississauga, with a rotating arm and centre column depicting symbols for the sun and nine planets. In striving to be an emblem to represent our collective efforts to understand weather patterns, this work is a celebration of the storm-water management project at Saigon Park and represents the balance between weather, natural systems, and built environment.
