Waterfront Culture

Fort Latour:

 

 The new painting that hides with the tide:

Saint John Sculpture Symposium 2018

Photos of sculptures being created from stone on the waterfront at the the former Coast Guard site.

Details of the sculpture symposium at: http://sculpturesaintjohn.com/

City Market - Escalator Upgrades

 

Project link: http://www.saintjohn.ca/en/home/news/newsreleases/the-saint-john-city-market-pedway-entrance-receive.aspx

Window on the Waterfront

The Window on the Waterfront sculpture by Hitoshi Tanaka has been repositioned on Harbour Passage to be closer to the waterfront in its title.

C.E. Nick Nicolle Community Centre–North End

If the outside is a good indication, the C.E. Nick Nicolle community centre in the Old North End has been transformed for the better.  The space looks like its brighter (bigger windows) and more inviting to the community.

Congratulations on all the great work to the folks at ONE Change.

Grand Bay Westfield sculpture

Here are a few pictures of Radoslav Sultov’s work from the Sculpture Symposium now in place near the Saint John River in Grand Bay Westfield.

Sculpture Symposium–sculpture in place (Rothesay)

Below are photos of Jo Kley’s creation that is now in the Rothesay Common.

 

Sculptures and the value of public art

For those of you who have been following the Sculpture Symposium taking place on the Coast Guard site you might be interested to see some of the works that have been made over the years at the Scoodic Sculpture Symposium that make up the Maine Sculpture Trail. Here’s where to see what has been made and placed around Maine: http://schoodicsculpture.org/tour/

You may also be interested in this piece from Forbes.com where, considering the value of public art in New York City, the author posits:

“But we don't just need sculpture gardens and curved steel structures for the money--we need public art because it improves our quality of life, because it makes us stop and open our eyes”

http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/05/state-of-the-city-opinions-george-rickey-public-art.html

Back to the local aspect, you can meet the sculptors working in Saint John for the symposium at the Arts Centre tomorrow (August 29, 2012) at 7pm. More details:

http://www.saintjohnartscentre.com/2012/08/23/meet-the-artists-of-sculpture-sj/

Sculpture Symposium

The Sculpture Symposium on the Coast Guard site is going strong with some great pieces of public art being created. I took these pictures on Friday.

The symposium website is: http://www.sculpturesaintjohn.com/

Local artist/entrepreneur and symposium intern Alison Gayton is also sharing details about the process the sculptors and workers are going through on her blog:

http://ilovesjpottery.wordpress.com/2012/08/11/august-10-second-friday-at-the-saint-john-sculpture-symposium/

Big Box store repurposed into Library

I am a big fan of building repurposing stories. I just read about a former Walmart store that was converted to a library in Texas.

http://grist.org/list/this-abandoned-walmart-has-been-reclaimed-as-a-public-library/

Living in small homes

Treehugger posted an interesting summary of a larger article about living in small homes.  As new urban housing is designed in Saint John that offers less “private” living space, it is interesting to think about one of the key points gleaned from living in a small home: “the city is your living room.”

The writer for Treehugger said this about living in New York City. Clearly Saint John doesn’t have all of the amenities of a metropolis like that, but it is important to think about how community space and services are used by those living in small homes.

Spacing Atlantic on Harbour Passage closure

Abad Khan wrote an article for Spacing Atlantic about the closure of parts of Harbour Passage during bridge work above.  Thanks to the reader who sent me the link:

 http://spacingatlantic.ca/2010/05/21/now-closed-saint-john-harbour-passage/

Clock of the Town

I have sort of a corporate crush on Commercial Properties.  I think the projects they take on are great and respect their expansion into a number of investment property types.

I also really appreciate the clock they have unveiled as part of the city’s 225th anniversary celebration.  This Electric Time clock at the foot of King Street and the benches surrounding it look great. 

Alternate Pedestrian route for Harbour Passage during bridge repairs

From the City’s Harbour Bridge project website:

While clearly necessary for safety and logistics needs, this route adds just under a half kilometre if one wanted to walk from Market Square to Green Lee Shoes, or a similar type starting point and destination.

CenterBeam Place Clock

The clock is now in place, though shrouded in a tarp.

Active Transportation series on local cyclists

Active Transportation Saint John has been blogging a series where they interview local cyclists about their two wheeled activity, highlighting some great places to ride and some ideas about how to improve the cycling environment.

One post seems particularly relevant as the City considers what to do with land on the western edge of Rockwood Park.  Paul Graham is quoted as saying:

“Rockwood Park is a mountain bikers dream, there is something for every level of biker, it never gets old and there are new trails every year.”

  and

“On several occasions I have been on rides in Rockwood Park with visitors who are completely blown away with the park, its beauty and the trails. Usual comments include, “There’s nothing like this where I live”. Kind of makes you proud to be a Saint Johner.”

There are plenty of other interesting posts on the Active Transportation blog that are worth reading.

Let the public speak

A thought I had after tonight’s Rockwood Park development meeting is that the citizens must be allowed to speak.

It’s great for the City and consultants to moderate meetings, but citizens voices shouldn’t be drowned out by the monologues of councilors (one who shut down a citizen after she asked him a question during his speech). 

Also, consultants should facilitate and listen, not attempt to steer conversations in the way they think they should go – one chap from ADI really seemed anxious to turn people’s calls for better lighting in parking areas into ideas about building residential clusters around parking lots.

Luckily people spoke with a united voice tonight, and it will be hard for councilors to ignore them.

Also lucky is the fact that the outspoken councilor seemed to agree with the people – so even if he’d rather talk than listen, he’s going down a path that would please many of the people who showed up to the Lily Lake Pavilion this evening.

Thoughts after Rockwood Park development meeting

The citizens united tonight against developing the land along the west of Rockwood Park.  Some concessions were made calling for new entrances and parking for park users, but the crowd seemed set against developing the park with residential projects.

The people I sat with said they want the City to maintain parts of the park as rustic natural land.  This was echoed by many in the room.

Some councilors came out and seemed to support the people on this.

Hopefully ADI and City staff make recommendations that reflect the will of the people.

Learn more and participate in the discussion at http://saintjohn.ca/sandypointstudy.cfm

Plan for Rockwood Park adjacent Land

The City of Saint John is trying to plan what to do with land running along the west side of Rockwood Park.  I honestly believed most of this land to have been contained in the park, and would be disappointed if certain parts of this were turned over for non-park development, particularly the land south of the utility easement.

The area in question is highlighted in purple on the map below.  The City has some information online about the process at: http://www.saintjohn.ca/sandypointstudy.cfm

The TJ reported today that there will be a public input session on March 10, 2010.

Saint John Transit – Public Art

The TJ ran a few pictures of the public art – inspired by traffic signs – recently unveiled in front of the Saint John Transit Headquarters.  CFMH radio show Serf City interviewed the artists behind the project. 

The podcast also discusses the importance and prevalence of public art.

The Saint John municipal art policy, according the the City’s website:

“… Common Council will allocate at least one percent (1%) of the cost of appropriate capital projects to the creation and installation of public art as a part of such municipal projects. It will also encourage private sector developers, other than Saint John area municipalities, an other levels of government and government agencies to do the same.”