BQNA event Wednesday: Dreamwork of the Whales at Little Norway Park

Thanks to the Bathurst Quay Residents Association for passing this along to us.

We're hosting an event here at Bathurst Quay that Queens Quay Life readers will be interested in. The story of how a particular piece of public art, the 40-foot-tall carved maypole entitled Dreamwork of the Whales, came to be created and located in this neighbourhood has lots of interesting, quirky details, and everyone on Queens Quay remains blessed to have this mysterious work in our midst.

It was 1979 when sculptor/designer Ben Barclay and a fellow artist were visiting the Harbourfront Contemporary Art Gallery (the Power Plant's predecessor) on a trip home to Toronto from Vancouver, where they had been living and working in an artists' collective. Their conversation was overheard by the gallery director and a spark was struck.

Months of fundraising followed and by the next spring, a 40-foot Western Red Cedar selected in British Columbia arrived at the Bathurst Quay on Toronto's waterfront. The quay was a big, open, green space then, with the only structures being the Canada Malting Silos and the Tip Top Tailors building; the Little Norway barracks from WW II and the Maple Leafs baseball stadium were long gone. We'll view a film that documented the entire process and it's fascinating in many respects.

A core group of 5 designer/sculptors, with the help of some guest carvers, worked for nearly 5 months to design and carve the 40-foot-tall maypole still standing today in Little Norway Park (at Queens Quay and Bathurst) entitled Dreamwork of the Whales. There were lots of children from the neighbourhoods to the north who played nearby, talking with and inspiring the artists who occasionally let the kids do a bit of carving! The Toronto Folk Festival took place around them at one point in the summer. The artists were invited for home-cooked dinners on many occasions and recall the spirit of community that made it a summer of love, Toronto style.

Now, 29 years later, four of the artists who collaborated on this imaginative masterpiece have accepted our invitation to return for a celebration of the maypole and the spirit of creativity and collaboration that brought it forth.

Please join us for this evening of celebration, if you can. As the evening progresses, we'll hear stories from each of the artists, learn to appreciate better the creation story carved into the maypole, and find out what preservation steps we should take to ensure the maypole lasts for generations to come.

TIME: Wednesday, June 3rd, 6:45 pm, Rain or Shine
PLACE: Little Norway Park, Queens Quay West 1 block west of Bathurst
FILM VIEWING: follows inside at 7:45 pm in nearby Harbourfront Community Centre
FREE ADMISSION