Public Sculpture Launch

Sunday, December 4 | 2 pm
Free | All welcome | Refreshments served

The Art Gallery of Guelph is pleased to announce the launch of the 41st permanent installation in the Donald Forster Sculpture Park. Located on the grounds north of the gallery, artist KC Adams has created five bronzes in the form of traditional Indigenous ceramic vessels that will rest on a limestone base etched with the paths of the Speed and Eramosa rivers.

For Adams, who is Anishinaabe, Nêhiyaw, and British, the practice of creating clay pottery using the techniques of her ancestors offers important insight into traditional ways of life as well as ways to live in relationship with the waters that have shaped our landscapes and communities. As these ancient ceramic vessels are still found intact today secreted away along river banks and in shards on and in the earth, the sculpture speaks to how memory is anchored in place, imagining the archaeological traces of Indigenous gathering places and trade networks that have informed contemporary landscapes. Highlighting questions at the intersection of experiences, stories, and evidence in the area of Guelph, the installation also speaks to the importance of seeking the complexities within histories as they are presented.

Join us to celebrate the unveiling of this newest public sculpture! All welcome. Commissioned with the generous support of Joan and George Todd through the Florence G. Partridge Fund.