A special projects grant from the province puts Oak Bay nearer to its next public art purchases.
“We’re looking towards buying The Hunt,” said arts laureate Barbara Adams.
The grant came through the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, via a letter to Don McRae, who retires this week as MLA Comox Valley.
“If you don’t ask you never get. I just submitted the letter and crossed my fingers and hoped,” he said.
“It’s great because it’s a combination of the municipality stepping up for the community. It wasn’t asking for government to be the sole funder, the community has already got so much skin in the game and supports it.”
The public art committee plans to use the $10,000 grant toward the $28,000 purchase of The Hunt, a sculpture featuring a pack of wolves and a large buck.
“I have had several people say they would like to put a little money forward,” Adams said. “I’m going to see if I can find one big sponsor if they would like to have their name on the art along with the provincial government.”
ArtsAlive, Oak Bay’s 2016 summer art plan featured 13 sculptures and four public pianos. The artwork is expected to stay up for a year, and the public voted on a possible future municipal purchase. Artists Nathan Scott and Fred Dobbs’ sculpture Sleeping Giants received the highest number of public votes during ArtsAlive, and is under consideration for purchase by the municipality. Meditation by Ellen Scobie and The Hunt by Ken Hall were runners-up in the votes collected by both paper ballot and QR codes
“The Hunt has also been very popular. It came in very close to the winner and I’ve had many unsolicited calls from people who would be interested in having it. It is a very good piece of art,” Adams said. “I’ve also heard from parks that there are less Canada Geese leaving their mark in the park since the wolves have been there. It’s a piece of art that will stand the test of time in Oak Bay.”
Should they garner the balance to purchase The Hunt, the artist would donate 10 per cent back to the arts program.
“That’s part of ArtsAlive. Those pieces of art sold 10 per cent comes back to the program,” she said. “It’s a necessary thing because if a piece of art is donated to the municipality, there has to be some money for upkeep and installation, otherwise it’s a burden on the community and we want this whole thing to be a win-win for everybody.”
Contact Adams at 250-686-2272 for detail on how to donate.