Sculpture Saint John’s final instalment now underway

An up close and personal look at the creation of public art, from start to finish, is back on display for one final instalment in Saint John.

Sculpture Saint John is underway for the next four weeks on Long Wharf.

The 2022 event features local artists creating public art from granite blocks alongside sculptors from Bulgaria, Latvia, and Poland. The monuments are then sent to cities and towns around the province.

“For many of the communities receiving these pieces, they wouldn’t have any other pieces of public art,” says Diana Alexander, the symposium’s executive director. “These are going to be there for generations. This granite is going to last beyond us. So we are creating a legacy of public art throughout New Brunswick.”

Alexander says each art piece has a value of over $100,000.

“We want to have affordable public art for these communities, so what happens is (the municipalities) pay $15,000 and we raise the rest of the money to bring the artists here,” says Alexander. “The artist gets to go out in to the community, visit the community, and experience the community, so it’s very special. There’s a real interaction between the people that are here on the site, the communities where the pieces are going, and the artists themselves.”

Sculpture Saint John began in 2012 with events following in 2014, 2016, and 2018. The plan was always for there to be a total of five events, but the pandemic postponed the final segment initially planned for 2020. Lingering travel challenges prevented three of the event’s scheduled artists from arriving in Saint John to participate.

“I don’t believe it’s the last symposium, but it’s probably the last Sculpture Saint John,” says Alexander. “When we finish this symposium we will have had 38 pieces of public art between St. Stephen, Moncton, and Fredericton.”

Alexander says it’s possible another New Brunswick community will host the event going forward.

Saint John-based artist Jim Boyd has taken part in every Sculpture Saint John event and appreciates the opportunity to interact with international colleagues.

“It’s kind of a tight community,” says Boyd. “I’m familiar with these other artists but I’ve never met them before so it’s exciting to work with them and get to know them.”

Wiktor Kopacz is a sculptor from Poland and is already feeling at home along the Saint John waterfront.

“The weather in Poland is similar,” says Kopacz. “It’s very fast changing with the sun and the rain, so it will be nice.”

Sculpture Saint John is open to the public every day until it’s conclusion on Sept. 10, and Alexander is encouraging people to make repeated visits until then.

“Because you’ll see the progress.”