This public art initiative is part of the My Neighbourhood Art Project; a series of site-specific, temporary art installations created in collaboration with the local community.
One of the goals of this project is to increase artist opportunities by pairing a local emerging artist with a seasoned lead artist. These artists worked together to facilitate a series of community art workshops themed around migration and home; working with participants enrolled in summer camp programs at Gore Meadows Community Centre. They invited members of the community to help create a visual tribute to their vibrant neighbourhood and the home they have created here.
Images were gathered during cyanotype workshops where participants were asked to provide an object that reminded them of home. The items were photographed and printed in cyanotype, a historic photographic process that dates back to 1842, producing images in deep shades of blue. A selection of flowers from the community centre grounds and surrounding meadow were also collected, printed, and added to the work resulting in over 250 individual digital images created by over 180 community participants!
The artist placed each of the images in the approximate location of the stars as they would appear in the night sky over Gore Meadows. They are displayed in three panels, one each for April, August, and December. The resulting work is a deep blue celestial map leading to the artwork's location at Gore Meadows.
My Neighbourhood Art Project responds to a council directive for city-wide neighbourhood beautification and speaks to a need for meaningful, neighbourhood-level, placemaking, and community arts engagement.