November 26, 2004
Mayberry wagers $60,000 on filly to inspire outdoor sculpture boom.
WINNIPEG – Mayberry Fine Art is leading by example in the matter of public art with its purchase and installation of a $60,000 life-size, bronze sculpture of a young filly by renowned Canadian artist Joe Fafard on the sidewalk outside its Exchange District gallery.
The signature work, which with its granite base weighs over 1200 kg., was lowered into place by a crane today. Entitled Valentina, the sculpture depicts a young Appaloosa horse, a breed that was reportedly introduced to Manitoba by Pierre de La Verendrye in 1740.
Gallery owner Bill Mayberry, who believes Winnipeg’s image would benefit from an outdoor sculpture boom, hopes other businesses will recognize the corporate and community benefits of exhibiting privately-owned art in public spaces, a practice common in other major cities.
“Public art, which would serve to elevate our city’s status, can be privately sponsored,” Mayberry said. “When a company purchases a wonderful work of art to install on public property adjacent to its place of business, it’s a win-win situation. It draws attention to the business and to the area, perhaps even becoming a landmark. Art can become a living part of the community, creating a tangible vibrancy in the neighbourhood and the public enjoys it.”
Winnipeg now joins Vancouver, Regina, Toronto and Montreal as cities which have Fafard’s bronze works on display outdoors. One of Canada’s most well-regarded and highly-collected, living sculptors, the Saskatchewan artist created seven cows for the TD Centre’s grassy enclave in downtown Toronto. Downtown Vancouver and Regina are home to Fafard’s massive bulls, while a life-size mare will soon appear outside an upscale Vancouver hotel.
Fafard, a 1966 University of Manitoba fine arts graduate, is among the more than 40 distinguished, contemporary Canadian artists which the Mayberry gallery represents. The Winnipeg Art Gallery holds several important Fafard works in its collection.
Diane Bampton, general manager of CentreVenture Develoment Corporation, whose mandate is to foster revitalization in downtown Winnipeg, is an avid supporter of outdoor public art. “Putting sculpture in the public realm engages people with what’s going on at street level. People will get a delightful surprise when they turn a corner and see this beautiful sculpture. From the city’s perspective, it enhances the outdoor environment, the street becomes more interactive and a more friendly place,” said Bampton, who participated in the installation event.
Gallery co-owner Shaun Mayberry would like to see the city create additional options for companies interested in buying art for public display by identifying pre-approved sites where a privately-owned piece could be installed.
“Providing businesses with the option of designated art spaces would make it easier to bring art to street level, to make it part of the downtown urban landscape,” he said, noting that when the gallery approached the city for permission to install a Fafard sculpture on the public sidewalk, there was no precedent for such a project on zoning department books.
While the Mayberrys concede there is a risk of vandalism with outdoor sculpture, Bill Mayberry insisted, “That’s not a reason not to do this. People leave their expensive cars parked on the street. If someone is inclined to deface property you can’t stop them, but you would be surprised by the amount of respect there is for art.”
Mayberry Fine Art opened in January, 2003, in the century-old Lake of the Woods Milling Co. building in the historic Exchange District. Committed to the revitalization of the Winnipeg’s downtown, the Mayberry family restored their two-story, 10,000 square-foot, red-brick building to its former grandeur.
The officially-designated heritage building turned art gallery, located at 212 McDermot Avenue, represents a select group of contemporary Canadian artists such as Winnipeg’s Wanda Koop and Don Proch, Surrey’s Robert Genn, Calgary’s Bill Brownridge, and Ottawa’s Rose-Aimee Belanger. Among its historical works of the 19th and 20th centuries are paintings by Emily Carr, Cornelius Kreighoff and members of the Group of Seven.
The Mayberrys, with more than 30 years experience in fine art, sell and lease paintings, drawings and sculpture, and provide valuation, restoration and custom framing services. Visit www.mayberryfineart.com to learn more.
Joe Fafard, a resident of Lumsden, Sask., comes by his love of horses naturally, having grown up on a farm in the French-speaking Ste. Marthe area of the province. His talent for art was evident at a young age. Now 62, Fafard is one of the most important artists working in Canada today. Well-known as a ceramic sculptor, in the early 1980s he began experimenting with bronze. Fafard’s bronze work has been described as “unparalleled” and is housed in major collections across Canada. An exhibition of his bronze sculptures -- pigs, goats, cows, horses – this past summer in Toronto received critical acclaim and sold out. In 2006, the National Gallery of Canada will host a major retrospective of Fafard’s work.