NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF BARRIE
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Artists seeking old fences to upcycle into permanent public art display
This spring, the City of Barrie will have a new place for people to park their bikes in the downtown.
But this will not be just any bike rack—it will also be the City’s newest public art installation.
This past fall, the Barrie Public Art Committee conducted a call for expressions of interest for artists to create an original permanent outdoor sculpture that functions as a bicycle rack in prominent city locations.
Toronto-based artists Jon Sasaki and Jennifer Davis were selected through a juried national competition.
Their sculpture-bike rack is titled Juncture, and will consist of four different metal fence dividers, artistically reconfigured to secure up to eight or more bikes.
“The committee believes that Jon and Jennifer will create a piece that all residents can be proud of,” says the City’s Culture Officer Onalee Groves. “We feel the community will especially enjoy the functionality and symbolic nature of this public art.”
Sasaki and Davis’ idea for the piece comes from the concept that fences are inherently antisocial, as they typically serve to define private property and separate neighbours.
The vision for Juncture is to create a place where people can gather and interact, while also encouraging active transportation in Barrie.
The installation will be symbolic of removing barriers between people.
Sasaki and Davis are asking Barrie residents to donate their metal fences to be transformed into the art piece.
Residents who have a sturdy metal fence that they would like removed or are not using, can email the artists at [email protected] to donate to the project.
The installation will be unveiled in June; the location has not yet been determined.
The initiative supports the City’s Public Art Policy that was approved in 2012.
The policy serves to nurture and encourage greater opportunities for artists to design and develop the public domain while ensuring a commitment to excellence, innovation and diversity.
To learn more about the project, visit barrie.ca/PublicArt.
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