Two of Collingwood’s key recreation spaces got a little bit more colourful recently.
Four murals commissioned by the Town of Collingwood were unveiled this summer – two at the Central Park Arena and two at the Centennial Aquatic Centre – and will adorn the entrances of the two facilities until June 2024.
The two murals at Centennial Aquatic Centre were created by Steve Millman and Jennifer Lawton. The two murals at the Central Park Arena were created by Merryn Edgar and Deb Baillie.
At the Centennial Aquatic Centre is a piece by Collingwood artist Steve Millman, called Collingwood 1923, and shows adults and children playing in the water together.
“My piece was inspired by my interest in Collingwood history even though not technically accurate, it's more the spirit of the time,” he said.
Outside of the mural, Millman’s drawings tend to be done in ink and focus on Collingwood’s buildings and green spaces, as well as commissions of pets.
“I felt very honoured to be one of the artists picked as I have seen the other artists’ work and was familiar with their quality,” he said.
Millman says public art can serve a variety or purposes, but for him, it’s the reaction of the people enjoying the art that makes him feel like his efforts haven’t been in vain.
“If someone enters the pool and sees the art and it puts a smile on their face... I will be happy. And hopefully, they will be too,” he said.
Over at the Central Park Arena, Collingwood artist Deb Baillie’s piece called Jump In, shows a boy swimming with a yellow kick board.
Baillie is no stranger to public art, as another of her pieces called JUMP! is a fixture in Collingwood Art Alley on Simcoe St.
There are parallels that can be drawn between the two pieces.
“I have always been a water baby,” said Baillie. “I love to paint water: the reflections, the light and sparkles of water, the movements, the colours and the human interaction with water too. I wanted to evoke the fond summer memory of jumping off the dock or into the bay or into a glistening pool: a memory so many of us who live up here share, both in our own childhoods and those of our children.”
Baillie’s artistic process sees her working from reference photographs to create much of her art which play with shadow and light. She says the process for this new piece is different from other mural commissions she’s done, as artists submitted digital versions of their art pieces which were then enlarged and printed to fit the spaces.
“It is really fun to see a smaller painting be enlarged to this scale, and some of the more difficult logistics of painting large-scale murals is eliminated with this process,” she said.
Baillie says all four murals can help to evoke emotion, memory and meaning within the community.
“They act as reminders to us all that we should be very grateful to live in a community that offers us so much opportunity for active, healthy living,” she said.
Port Credit-based artist Lawton’s piece of a child blowing bubbles and a fish – called A Parrot Fish – on display at Centennial Aquatic Centre was inspired by trips she took to Mexico and Australia where she shot underwater photos of coral reefs. The self-described realist colourist enjoys exploring realistic themes while boosting colours to celebrate a mood or feeling.
“I also worked with three girls at the Mexican resort, snapping shots of them swimming, jumping in and otherwise hamming for the camera, which gave fodder to a large underwater series of paintings,” she said.
After returning from her adventures, Lawton got to work using additional reference photos of the grandson of a friend blowing bubbles.
“Putting two photos together, I came up with this design, which was to suggest the wonder of swimming and undersea exploration,” said Lawton.
When she first heard her art had been selected to be featured, Lawton said she felt pride and excitement. Overall, she sees the importance of public art reflected in her own life as exposure to culture at an early age helped her to become an art and photography teacher for more than 35 years.
“If public art can draw people in to experience new perspectives and ways of seeing, more power to it!” Lawton said.
The call for artists was put out this past winter. Pieces were selected by a committee comprised of one town staff member and three members of the community. Each artist was paid $500 by the town for the use of their piece.
The four murals will be displayed at Central Park and Centennial Aquatic Centre until June 2024, then, four new murals will take their place until June 2025.
