A jury made up of members of Kingston’s arts community and residents of the downtown neighbourhood of Williamsville have selected Kingston-based artist Nicholas Crombach’s public art proposal, “Horse and Cart”.
The Victoria Park Public Art Project will be adding the sculpture to the recently revitalized Victoria Park this summer. The project itself has a budget of $55,000 and is being facilitated by the City of Kingston in keeping with its Public Art Master Plan and Public Art Policy.
“The City saw an opportunity with the Victoria Park renovation in 2017 to add even more to the renewal of this space through public art,” said Danika Lochhead, Manager of Arts and Sector Development at the City of Kingston. “Nicholas’ proposal embodies the goal of the public art project to add a new dynamic, playful and accessible experience to Victoria Park that will engage the imagination of park visitors through a sculpture that brings the past to life in a creative way.”
City staff held a public engagement session at the Memorial Centre on April 13, 2019 where members of the community had an opportunity to meet the five shortlisted artists at the time, view their proposals and provide feedback. This feedback was gathered by staff and provided to the shortlisted artists who used it to refine their proposals before final submission.
“Horse and Cart” artist Nicholas Crombach currently works in Kingston and has exhibited around Ontario, Quebec and in Europe. The selected sculpture references the horse and buggy era when Victoria Park was established and takes the form of an old-fashioned, wooden children’s tricycle.
“Produced at the scale of a life-size horse, the enlarged children’s toy appears as if it is coming to life, transforming from an inanimate object into a trotting horse that is pulling a cart,” says a City release. “The sculpture can also be read as a horse transforming into a toy, mirroring the history of Victoria Park itself, once a plot of farmland that was granted to the City of Kingston for the purpose of developing a park for recreational enjoyment and leisure activities.”
More information is available at the Victoria Park Public Art Project page and through the City’s Public Art Program.
Image source: City of Kingston