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Musquem Elder, Jim Kew gathered with a group of Hamilton children around the Heron as an important part of the ceremonies. And this completes our recounting of this work of public art. From inception to completion, we are proud to have taken part in this project on behalf of the city of Richmond and the Hamilton community. 
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It was a perfect warm sunny day to come together as a community and celebrate. Seen here, the young members of the Hamilton community march upon the stage to share their artwork with all.  Children from the Hamilton community built their own herons to help celebrate the unveiling of the new heron sculpture.  We were thrilled to see the artwork enjoy some of its first visitors!  This work of public art acts as an important landmark, drawing the minds of the visitors to contemplate the natural surrounding beauty of Richmond and celebrate the great outdoors.  The great Blue Heron is unveiled for the community in Richmond. Complete with a Heron Parade!   A closeup of the salmon details at the base of the sculpture.
The Heron sculpture is now fully constructed, beautiful and ready for the next stage to completion! Off to Cedar, B.C for powder coating. First the sculpture is loaded onto the truck, dropped off in Cedar at the painters, then each piece of the sculpture is suspended, painted and left to air dry. After the sculpture is dried it is packed once more for its final journey.  The Heron is on it's way for sandblasting and powder coating.  On the road.  Powder coating the salmon.  Powder coating the Heron.  Awaiting delivery. The following images will take you on a journey through the Heron assembly process in the welding shop. This is an exciting step for the artistic team, many months work built up to this day!  Seen here. The cut steel portions of the Heron arrive at the welding shop.  Setting out the feet placement before welding them into place.  Here the Heron feet and reed stems are welded in place.  A close look at the fine welding work on the Heron feet.  Adding a curve to the wings. Attention to details like this make the sculpture come to life.  Heron with reed supports.  Heron with temporary supports.  The Salmon ready for assembly.  Here you can see how the welding team is notching the legs into place on the Heron body.  Ready to add reed stem supports.  Reeds attached to the Heron.  Seen here the Salmon are made ready with their rod supports. The entire sculpture will be fabricated out of stainless steel. To begin, artist Donald Gunn sent templates of his designs to the steel fabricator on Salt Spring Island. At the steel fabricators a specialized artisan cut the the designs out of a single sheet of solid 3/8 inch steel plate. To do so this artisan used a highly specialized steel cutting bed, that is immersed in water to reduce friction and heat. Once the each design is cut from the steel the artisan then begins the finishing work. Freshly cut steel is very sharp and rough if not prepared properly, so the artist uses metal grinders to ride the surface of sharp edges and to produce a smooth organic surface that is pleasing and safe to touch. Each element of the sculpture will be treated in this way. Once all the various elements are cut and finished, final assembly of the sculpture can begin. Stay tuned for the next step! |
Our Sculpture BlogThis blog was created to share our public art story with our community, from inception to completion. |
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