On Thursday, December 14th, Victoria City Council approved a $250,000 art installation to be located at the gateway of the new Johnson Street Bridge.
According to several news reports, the price tag for the orca art project met with criticism from members of the public who believed it to be unnecessarily expensive.
However, Victoria’s policy is to spend up to one percent of a major public work’s project on art.
To this end, the estimated $250,000 that will be spent on the artwork will amount to roughly 0.25 percent of the $105-million Johnson Street bridge project.
Creating waves
The art piece is entitled ‘Transient Resident’, and will consist of eleven vertically angled surfboards placed strategically to resemble an orca.
It is meant to represent the Indigenous history of the land and will also consist of an audio piece created by the city’s Indigenous Artist-in-Residence Lindsay Delaronde.
The installation will be placed in the triangular meridian near the Janion Building. Work on the art piece will begin shortly after the new Johnson Street bridge opens in March 2018.
Meet the Artists
The project is designed by artists-in-residence Luke Ramsey and Lindsay Delaronde, in collaboration with the City of Victoria.
In the past, Ramsey has been involved in designing several murals around town, including the most recent one in North Park.
Delaronde is most well known for her part in organizing the ACHoRd performance art piece co-created by a group of 13 Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, which was performed on the steps of the Legislature as a part of the lead-up to Canada 150.
