August 20, 2013
By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON. Stela is in town. She arrived late last night and slept in for a bit this morning. Later today she will begin unpacking and getting ready to meet people in her new home
Stela having a nap at a truck yard in midtown Burlington
You know what it’s like when you move to a new place and everyone in the new place knows you well, or they think they do, and they want to drop in and get caught up. You’re still living out of cardboard boxes and every member of the family wants to drop in. It gets a little hectic, all these people – they see themselves as members of your family – and want to tell you what you should do next. Jewish and Italians families do this sort of thing all the time – but truth to tell the WASPs are just as bad.
Anyway – you have to meet them and you do love everything you hear about the new city and you’re kind of excited.
So – what are you going to wear for this “grand entrance” into your new town?
Stela has a good bottom to her. She’ll need it – she’s going to stand outside the Performing Arts Centre for a long time proudly showing off her jewely and her fine lines.
Turns out Stela is quite a looker. Double D’s, or that’s what we’ve heard, but she isn’t showing very much right now. That Double D might be the name of the guy that’s transporting her around town.
When she gets set up at her new place the lower part of Stella will be covered up with some kind of skirting. Some thought was given to draping her with a tent but she is very tall and there was nothing large enough to cover all of her.
When you get to see her she will be wearing quite a bit of jewelry – she tends to overdo it a bit. Sometime she wears every piece of jewelry she owns.
Friends and family members will get to see her Sunday afternoon at a reception on the Plaza of the Performing Arts Centre
This is the way we saw the entrance of the Spiral Stela into the city.
The news spinners at city hall tell the story in their way.
People from across Burlington who contributed personal belongings to a public art piece are being asked to come to The Burlington Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, Aug. 25 to celebrate the installation of the sculpture they helped create.
Created by Canadian artist Peter Powning, Spiral Stela is a tall stainless steel sculpture wrapped with a bronze spiral made from imprints of local residents’ cherished items – a process Powning calls “cultural mulch.” More than 200 objects were submitted by residents and incorporated into the work.
Above is the design sample submitted by Peter Powning. what Burlington will see Sunday afternoon will be quite a bit different. First the Spiral Stella will be to the left of the ramp leading into the Centre. The overall look will be the same but Burlington’s Stela will have more than 200 local artifacts cast in Bronze attached to the base of the structure where people can see and touch the work.
The latest piece in the City of Burlington’s Public Art program will find its home at the corner of Locust and Elgin and the city wants you to come see and feel this truly public work. Spiral Stela, an obelisk-shaped sculpture by New Brunswick-based artist Peter Powning, will stand tall outside the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.
Keeping with the public spirit of public art, it was created with the help of Burlington residents this past winter. Powning used an interactive process he calls “cultural mulch” to construct bronze bands which will enrobe the structure – bands that were made from the tactile impressions formed by people’s heirlooms such as jewellery, keys, instruments, and tools, which they brought to Powning during public “casting sessions.” Powning then shipped the Burlington-made plaster impressions to his studio down east, where they were cast once more in bronze, and the 17-foot tall sculpture took its final shape.
The Burlington Public Art Program, is managed by CoBALT Connects, that oversaw the selection of a jury that chose the Spiral Stela from 119 designs submitted for this location from internationally acclaimed artists.
I’ve heard that Stella is quite cold. Polished yes, but as cold as they come.
Like her sister Stella always depended on the kindness of strangers; it’s in her make-up, it’s how she expresses herself.
But Stella needles people into making a point, and she does this in a complicated Brassy way.
Stella may be classy, but she should have arrived in town in the company of some white wood. That crate she came to town in just makes her look like some kind of skid!
I do wonder about this Double D driver that’s giving her a lift.
I hear his name is Stan;
Stan Kowalski…
James – That was cheeky and irreverent…….
Thank-you Bob.
To quote the late great Curly Howard: “I resemble that remark!”