Art in Transit Celebrates City of Ottawa Public Art Program
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
As part of the City of Ottawa’s Public Art Programme and its 30-year celebration of providing public art opportunities for artists in Ottawa, the Public Art Program is partnering with Art in Transit, PATTISON Outdoor Advertising’s arts program, on the cARTe blanche pilot project, a new public arts initiative.
This pilot project will display, on PATTISON Outdoor advertising billboards, images that outline artists’ imagined concepts for future public art projects within Ottawa.
cARTe blanche projects were selected by an independent professional arts Peer Assessment Committee.
The five selected artworks by local artists will appear for eight weeks on billboards in various locations:
- Jean-François Lacombe, A Beacon in a Concrete Sea;
- Christos Pantieras, Clickbait;
- Alisdair MacRae, Billboard for the Homeless;
- Annette Hegel and Timothy Hunt, The Group of Seven, Set Adrift;
- Tony Fouhse and Paul Cavanaugh, Poster, Rebel Action Plan.
“PATTISON Outdoor is delighted to help celebrate Ottawa Public Art Program’s 30th anniversary and the enrichment of the city’s cultural landscape,” says Eric Schaff, sales manager, PATTISON Outdoor Advertising. “Ottawa has been at the forefront of arts and cultural enrichment in Canada, and the opportunity for our Art in Transit programme to partner with projects like cARTe blanche and to feature outstanding works of art that promote creativity and innovation is a pleasure.”
The billboard pilot project began on May 18, and the artworks will be on display for eight weeks until early July.
City Councillor Diane Deans, Chair of the Community and Protective Services Committee, says, “As a pilot project that will showcase imagined concept images for future public art, each of the five selected images will connect residents and visitors to the work of Ottawa’s dynamic visual artists. The goal is that the work will provide new and unexpected visual experiences for one-time or repeat viewers, and will spark a creative vision for future public art in Ottawa.”
Follow DailyDOOH