Christopher Griffin has won a competition to create the public-art component of a new parking garage in the Glebe. It’s the second major public-art installation awarded by the City of Ottawa to Griffin in the past few months. The two projects echo one another in their natural themes and choice of materials.
The parking garage is to be built at 170 Second Ave. Griffin’s latest project will represent the wildlife that can be found in four bodies of water that can be found in the Glebe, including Dow’s Lake, Brown’s Inlet, Patterson Creek and the Rideau Canal. Griffin will etch the wildlife figures into thin layers of concrete applied to some interior surfaces of the parking garage, such as support columns.
“The beauty of etched concrete occurs in its simplicity,” Griffin said in his proposal to the city. “It is a low-tech technique which does not rely on anything other than light to reveal imagery through cast shadows. It projects a quiet strength and gravitas.”
Thirteen proposals for art in the garage were made to the city, and the selection committee chose Griffin’s idea for its “artistic excellence, experience of the artist, integration of the artwork with the building design and comments received during the public consultation process.”
The budget for the art is $43,000, which must cover all costs for materials and construction, and any earnings for the artist. Griffin recently installed his concrete falcon project on the Bronson Avenue Bridge over Riverside Drive. The budget for that project was $20,000, though Griffin actually spent more than that to expand and complete the project, and paid the difference out of his own pocket.
Construction of the parking garage is scheduled to be completed by October.
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Click here to see other finalist proposals for public art in the Glebe parking garage.
Click here to read more about Christopher Griffin’s concrete falcons on Bronson Avenue.
Below: A model for Christopher Griffin’s art installation for a new parking garage to be built in the Glebe.
