Embracing the arts: 20 years of public sculpture in Hamilton
For 20 years now, a group of dedicated lovers of the arts in Hamilton have been gathering and coordinating their efforts to commission or purchase beautiful works of sculpture to decorate the public spaces of Hamilton.
The City of Sculpture (COS) organization began in 2000 and since then, they’ve coordinated the purchase of more than 44 pieces of public sculptural art. These purchases were made with the support of many private families who are dedicated to beautifying Hamilton.
Over the years, the organization has been able to purchase sculptures from sculptors who haven’t yet gained widespread fame but who go on to be very well-regarded. This has increased the overall draw of the collection for art lovers from outside of town, while also being a treasure for local residents.
“We commissioned American Cape from Kristen Visbal, the downtown sculpture of Alexander Hamilton,” says Jacob Stone, President of City of Sculpture. “She went on to create the famous Fearless Girl statue in New York, boosting the profile for her work.”
For almost two years, the Board of COS has been working on their 20th anniversary sculpture, which was created specifically for the spot on the corner of Eaton Avenue and Main Street where Embrace by Hunter Brown. It is now installed at the intersection, with nearby site improvement and landscaping to be added in the Spring.
“For the Hamilton Gateway, the sculpture that started it all, the theme that came out was resilience, and it physically harkened back to our history,” says Stone. “We wanted Embrace to be symbolic of the future of Hamilton.”
The design came from a public request for proposals for an original sculpture, and Hunter Brown’s concept became a clear good fit for the project.
“His proposals were extremely high quality” says Taylor Welch, Vice President of COS. “He gave us three options to choose from and showed us 3D renderings of what they would look like. This is one of the biggest pieces he’s done.”
The sculpture itself is made of two pieces of stainless steel which wind around each other and interlock at the top. Both the material and the design are symbolic and abstract, and the larger-than-life 25-foot height makes a real statement on this important intersection.
“Stainless steel remains strong by developing a film over it’s surface; it technically rusts, but it remains shiny,” says Stone. “It’s a modern innovation, and we thought it was the right material for this project.”
In addition to the bold new sculpture, the COS board has applied themselves to updating a brochure that outlines details on the many sculptures in downtown Hamilton. The new brochure contains an up-to-date list of the sculptures with descriptions, as well as a great new map to help guide visitors to each sculpture.
“It’s pretty straightforward on the Main Street side, but we now have so many sculptures near High Street now that you could reasonably do one pocket of sculptures in a day then go for dinner or a drink,” says Stone. “We’ve added almost 20 new pieces of art since the last version of this brochure.”
Lastly, the City of Sculpture website, www.cityofsculpture.org, is scheduled to be updated over the coming months. Visitors and locals alike are encouraged to enjoy a walking scavenger hunt to find all the sculptures on the maps, which are available for free from the Hamilton Welcome Center at 1 High Street.
Take your family or friends and enjoy a winter’s walk with the new brochure to have an outdoor art class right here in Hamilton!