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ArtSea takes over revitalization of Sidney Seaside Sculpture Walk

New agreement with Town of Sidney provides funding to ArtSea Community Arts Council for walk
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Artist David Hunwick’s Eye of the Ocean is featured in Sidney’s Seaside Sculpture Walk. Following an agreement with the Township of Sidney, the ArtSea Community Arts Council will be taking over administration and revitalization of the local walk. (Township of Sidney)

Control of Sidney’s outdoor art gallery is switching hands.

A new agreement with the Town of Sidney will provide ArtSea Community Arts Council with the funding to take over administration and revitalization of Sidney’s Seaside Sculpture Walk, an outdoor gallery stroll of public exhibits that takes art-lovers from Beacon Park, along the waterfront walkway and south towards the ferry terminal.

“We are pleased to receive the annual funding for the administration of the Sculpture Walk and welcome the opportunity to work with the Town to ensure the long-term sustainability of this valuable community arts asset,” said Wayne McNiven, who will chair the new ArtSea Sculpture Walk Committee.

“ArtSea will form a committee of interested people and begin the process of revitalizing the cultural walk.”

READ ALSO: ArtSea turns a municipal art-off into a symbol of collaboration

Initiated in 2011 by a group of local art enthusiasts, the walk features various pieces of public art – some commissioned by the town and others up for sale – with Mount Baker and the Salish Sea as their stunning natural backdrop.

Currently, the walk features ten sculptures including the People’s Choice winning Sea Otter Plaque by Fred Dobbs and Paul Harder’s Ollie the Board Dog, recently purchased for the town’s new skatepark.

The walk also includes David Hunwick’s steel and fibreglass Eye of the Ocean which has two ‘blue whale rib bones’forming an ‘eye’ to view the Salish sea, and Louis-Marc Simard’s The Muse, a white marble and stainless steel interpretation of an individual carrying a burden on their shoulders, which according to Simard’s bio, represents the baggage we all carry through life and the ways in which it can become an asset.

After the walk started in 2012, the founding group disbanded and the Town began seeking new leadership for the initiative to ensure it “remains in the community as both an attraction and opportunity for artists to promote their work in a unique open-air gallery.” Two pieces have sold since the gallery opened.

“The Town is pleased that ArtSea has agreed to renew and revitalize this valued community cultural and creative asset. We are confident that ArtSea will do great things with the Sculpture Walk and we look forward to supporting their efforts,” Sidney Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith said in a statement.

Those interested in being a part of the Sculpture Walk are encouraged to contact the new ArtSea committee by emailing McNiven at grants@artsea.ca.

READ ALSO: ArtSea turns a municipal art-off into a symbol of collaboration



nina.grossman@blackpress.ca

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