Visiting artists from across Ontario have helped spruce up Haliburton’s main street for the summer, with seven new creations unveiled last week as part of the annual downtown sculpture exhibition.
Now into its eighth year, the exhibition serves as a standalone accessory to the Haliburton Sculpture Forest said longtime curator, Jim Blake. The idea is that people spot the pieces in the downtown and take time to analyze and reflect on what each creation means to them. Even better if it directs people to the sculpture forest, located within Glebe Park, Blake said.
“I just love coming down the street and seeing the sculptures here. It’s one of those things where some people may not notice them, but for those that do they really seem to love them,” Blake said. “It really brightens up our downtown and gives it some character.”
This year’s show features one local submission and six pieces from artists from Toronto, Guelph, Mono, Erin, Elora and Douro. Blake said there were 24 applications from 17 artists.
He noted the jury always thinks about “what will look best on our main street” and take into account artistic merit, structural integrity and ability to withstand natural elements, being located outside for several months. The exhibit was installed last Thursday (June 18) and will remain in place until Oct. 25.
The tour begins at Rails End Gallery and Arts Centre with Jenn Wanless-Craig and Terry Craig’s ‘Delicate Nature’, a 49-piece display where they recreated wildflowers like milkweed, black-eyed Susan and fireweed in glass form.
The Tory Hill couple have been glassblowing for several years and usually spend their summers on the provincial arts and craft show circuit, but an injury to Terry earlier this year altered their plans.
Wanless-Craig said their piece is “something we decided to do for ourselves, to make us feel alive again.” She said the idea was to shine a light on the beauty of wildflowers that most take for granted.
“These flowers are beautiful but are often overlooked or discarded. We wanted to work with the colours to make them really stand out,” Wanless-Craig said, noting they used deep shades of pink, purple and yellow.
Toronto’s Jungle Ling has been an artist for almost 30 years, with his first public mural completed in 1999. Blake said he’s seen Ling’s work in the city for years, with an archway close to a parkette where Blake has a property a particular highlight.
Ling’s ‘The Squatter’ is installed on the corner of Highland and York streets, near the Cenotaph. It’s made completely from reclaimed steel Ling found at the city dump.
In front of Wind in the Willows sits ‘The Bird Woman’ from Holly Atkinson. While she typically works with bronze, having worked in a foundry for more than 32 years, the artist said she merged wood, cement and steel rod for the foundation and utilized different textiles and paints to finish.
“It’s pained four different colours on each side to represent different types of bird,” Atkinson said.
Angela Burdon will be a familiar name to fans of the exhibit, with her 2025 piece ‘Botanical Canoe’ popular last year. This time, she used winterstone for ‘Choose Life, Choose Love’ located in front of Fiore Verde. She said the sculpture is a commentary on how youth today are influenced by violent video games and negative news stories.
One interesting element, Burdon said, is that she expects it to change colour over the summer.
“The paint I used has a bronze powder ground into it. So, as it’s exposed to the elements – the sun and the rain, the piece will keep evolving,” Burdon said.
Rosalinde Baumgartner has also featured in the exhibit before and entered her painted clay sculpture ‘Georgina’, located in front of the Bank of Montreal. Michelle DuQuesnay’s ‘Echo of Wilderness’ can be found in front of Algonquin Outfitters, with two Garrett Gilbart steel sheet pieces, titled ‘Corvus’, at Corner Gallery.
Blake confirmed all pieces are available to purchase, with pricing available at www. haliburtonsculptureforest.ca.
