Haliburton Sculpture Forest

 September 2023 - Haliburton ON

This has always been on my radar, but had no intentions of making a three hour drive each way to visit it. But since John had booked a week in Haliburton it made the list.

The Haliburton Sculpture Forest is an outdoor collection of sculptures located in Glebe Park near the village of Haliburton. It is operated by the non-profit organization Haliburton Sculpture Forest et al.

Opened in 2001, the forest has on display 38 sculptures by Canadian, Indigenous, and international artists. The sculptures are arranged along a series of trails in a maple forest on the shores of Haliburton's Head Lake.

All descriptions are taken from the Sculpture Forest website.

My favourites, Wishes, Sleep of the Huntress

Kevin Lockau chose granite boulders as the medium for his installation, “Dreaming Stones”, - a 2.75 meter "mystical totem", made from six boulders collected from around the region. At the base of the totem is a sleeping wolf or coyote. Also included are a pattern of concentric circles representing time and growth rings, leaves representing regeneration, life and economy, contour lines representing contour plowing, and the faces of pioneers. Perched above all - the Owl, symbol of wisdom, flight and change. Over time a patina of lichen has conveyed a feeling of age and has accentuated the patterns.

 

Fire and Ice - A Really Big Shoe

A few years ago Charles O'Neil was displaying his work at the Buyers Market of American Craft in Philadelphia, when his wire sculptures of animals and human figures caught the eye of world renowned shoe designer Stuart Weitzman. Weitzman, impressed with the sculptures, approached O’Neil and asked him to sculpt wire shoes for their corporate art collection. 

Designing a shoe sculpture for Weitzman added a new dimension to O’Neil's work. 

When Barb Bolin retired as principal of Fleming College, Haliburton Campus, and the Haliburton School of The Arts in 2007, after 35 years with the College, her friends and coworkers donated to a fund to help buy a sculpture for the Forest in her honour. Bolin was asked to choose which artist would be commissioned to create the sculpture, and it wasn't long before her mind turned to Charles O’Neil and his brilliant shoes.

Mary Ellen Farrow sculpted “A Walk in the Woods in Haliburton”. The limestone and bronze piece stands 1.5 meters high and has been mounted on a granite base. The broad rounded lines conform to the natural character of the stone. The hiker, holding a bronze cast of a maple leaf , shows movement and emotion, but demands reaction.

 

Atmo-Sphere provides a hidden entrance in a large granite sphere for quiet reflection in the outdoors. Within the enclosure is a bench to sit and contemplate the quote on the floor. Don't forget to look up and enjoy the view while being embraced by the sounds of nature all around. The circular space in the roof was inspired by the architecture of the Pantheon.The stone for the dome is from the McBain Quarrie near Minden. The bench is created from West Coast cedar. John created the floor tiles out of polished granite in his studio in Nelson B.C.

Synonymous with the perception of “up north” is the image of trees. They are so numerous that one takes them for granted. Solid yet pliant, they are part of our horizons and landscapes. Like a tree that is still, yet filled with life, the vessel holds sound and, like a tree, is animated and given voice by the wind.

Guardians of the Forest. In the past, man has played a crucial role in the depletion of our forests and has endangered many animals, bird species and forest vegetation by clear cutting, pollution, and neglect. Over the years, numerous conservation programs have been designed and implemented to protect the animals, birds, and forest vegetation, through education, laws, and public awareness. We must play an active and optimistic role to help replenish and stabilize our environment. The “Guardians” are a combination of man and nature. Together they form an alliance that reminds us to harmonize with nature to help keep our eco system balanced and our environment clean and free from any intervention that may harm or destroy the future of our forests.

“A Conspiracy of Ravens” inspires the question, “What are they up to?”

Gelert is a hamlet in Snowdon Township in Haliburton County named after the town of Beddgelert in Snowdonia in the north of Wales. Beddgelert (grave of Gelert) is best known for its association with the legend of Gelert, the faithful wolfhound of Prince Llywelyn, the last prince of an independent Wales.

The Legend of Gelert: In the 13th century, Llywelyn, prince of North Wales, had a faithful wolfhound named Gelert that went everywhere with him. One day he went hunting without Gelert, leaving him to guard over his infant son. On Llywelyn's return, the dog ran out to greet his master, but Llywelyn saw that Gelert was stained and smeared with blood. The prince was alarmed and ran into his hunting lodge to look for his son. He found the infant's cot empty, the bedclothes and floor covered with blood. The frantic father plunged his sword into the dog's side thinking that Gelert had killed his son. The dog's dying cry was answered by a baby's cry. Llywelyn searched the lodge and found his boy unharmed but nearby lay the body of a large wolf which Gelert had slain. The prince, filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He buried Gelert under a cairn of stones. That spot and the town that grew around it is called Beddgelert. – the grave of Gelert.

  

One of Pan’s favourite sports was pursuing beautiful wood nymphs that strayed into the high forests where he lived. His strange, coarse goat-like features frightened the nymphs and they would flee in fear of him. From this we got the term “panic”. He was particularly smitten by one nymph whose name was Syrinx but she did not welcome his attentions. One day, being pursued by Pan, she came to the river. Exhausted, she beseeched the water nymphs to protect her. Just as Pan was about to grasp her, she was transformed into one of the many reeds that grew along the river bank. Frustrated, Pan plucked the reeds and fashioned them into the first flute. Since that day, he can be found playing sweet music on the flute which is the embodiment of his unrequited love. We have come to call his instrument the ‘pan-flute’ but more correctly, its name is Syrinx after Pan’s lost nymph.

For many years Jake Mol has taught a watercolour painting course at the Haliburton School of The Arts. Each summer he brings his students out to paint pictures of the farmstead that is part of the Haliburton Highlands Museum in Glebe Park. Jake thought that there should be a sculpture that connected the farmstead to the Sculpture Forest and presented the Haliburton Sculpture Forest Committee with the concept for the Homesteaders. Using recycled materials—bits and pieces of tools and hardware that might have been found around a farmstead—Jake created a whimsical family that might have built and lived in the buildings across the way. The stand facing their “home” holding up paintings that reflect their past and the present.

Matriarchy - Tarzan Sithole is a third-generation Zimbabwean stone sculptor. His works are also on display at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens and the Kew Gardens in London.

This sculpture depicts a man facing due east, with his arms raised high, greeting the morning sun and embracing the rosy-fingered goddess of the dawn, Eos. According to Greek mythology, Eos rose up into the sky from the river Okeanos at the start of each day, and with her rays of light dispersed the mists of the night. She was sometimes depicted riding a golden chariot drawn by winged horses, at other times she was shown borne aloft by her own pair of wings. Eos had an unquenchable desire for handsome young men, some say as the result of a curse laid upon her by the goddess Aphrodite.
The story of the man depicted in Embracing Eos is unclear. Does he simply admire the beauty of Eos as she rises each morning? Was he one of her past lovers? Or is he another young man about to fall victim to her lust?
Being a sculpture of black steel and dark wire, Embracing Eos can be difficult to see in the evening twilight. Some visitors have had such difficulty spotting the sculpture that they believe it has disappeared. Perhaps the sculpture is just hard to see in the evening, or perhaps the man of metal does leave at night, only to reappear in the morning to greet his seductive Eos.

 

Forest Screen Bench and Sun Bench

Walking through the forest is, for me, a time of contemplation: of peace and reflection. I see the viewer coming upon a rock, a ruddy rock, fitting for this place but not of this place. It is rough hewn and gnarled. As they approach it becomes evident that they are not alone; that they have happened upon an elegant sleeping woman, lost in the deep world of dreams. She exists in a spiritual realm: out of time and immaterial. All is quiet except for the sounds of the woods. The viewer is held for a moment in silence: hesitant and reflective in the presence of this woman of nature, calmly nestled on her craggy bed.

The sculpture “Together We Explore the Wild” was commissioned in appreciation of the life of Shawn Hagerman, family man, outdoorsman, canoeist, camper, fisherman, hunter, photographer, hiker, meditator, poet, and health and fitness enthusiast. He found peace and joy in exploring the wilderness alongside his family and friends.

Found objects are at the heart of this sculpture, aptly titled "Moose Scraps", an assemblage of retired vintage farm equipment and other hardware, formed into the shape of one of Canada's largest mammals, the moose.

 

Simon found this particular piece of springstone in a quarry up a mountain side in Zimbabwe. He and a crew of men careful carried it down the mountain so that the stone face would not be damaged. The shape had immediately spoken to him and he had the image for his sculpture. With a stringed musical instrument on one side and a woman listening to the music on the other side. All of the work on the sculpture is done by hand. The smooth sections were sanded with 7 grades of sandpaper. These smooth surfaces were then heated with fire to open up the pores of the stone and wax infused into the stone, The white lines were created by cutting grooves in the stones, grinding up dolomite and gluing the white granules into the grooves. Simon has been the artist in residence twice over the past 10 years at ZimArt and was present for the installation of the sculpture.

Current. Vision for the Bench: I designed this bench with two major considerations in mind. The sinuous form is for a pleasing shape embodying flow and movement. While the human-manipulated materials that make up the bench contrast with the surrounding natural environment, the bench's repetition of line and sense of movement invokes a congruent relationship with its environment. The concave face of the bench allows for interaction between visitors to the Sculpture Forest. Passers-by taking a rest will be nudged to engage in a quiet chat or conversation. Though, respecting the needs for personal space the bench's undulating form also allows for a convex seating arrangement to provoke focus elsewhere. A low backrest makes it easy to rest one's elbows to sit for long periods to just observe, communicate, or a combination of both.

Since 1994, Marianne Reim has been working on a series of books (DAS BUCH) cut from steel. They currently number 70. The books are personal interpretations of her history within a larger cultural history. These books contain steel pages, which can be turned and read, and they are bound. The antitheses of paperbacks, these books are constructed through a process of cutting, burning, and welding into the sheets of steel. In this manner, Marianne is able to inscribe a universal language through form and line. The content of the books emerges from memories. For example, DAS BUCH 10 was inspired by a visit to the Berlin Wall. DAS BUCH 18 contains a diary-like entry, another one in Latin reflects Marianne’s interest in the universality of language.

Terminus

Found objects are at the heart of this sculpture, aptly titled "Flying Debris", an assemblage of mechanical hardware, tools and re-bar, formed into the shape of one of the most distinctive local birds, the blue heron.

The sculpture “Visionary” commemorates the life of Sir Sandford Fleming and his contributions to Canada and the world. Born in 1827 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, Sandford Fleming arrived in this region, travelling by way of Quebec City and Montreal to Kingston, and continuing by boat to what he described as " a nice healthy little town", Cobourg. The 18-year-old Sandford and his older brother, David, arrived in Peterborough by horse-drawn cart on June 17 1845, where Sandford made his home with Dr. and Mrs. John Hutchison. Sandford Fleming contributed much to this area. His drawings and maps accurately depict the Peterborough area as it was in the mid-1800s, and his copious diaries provide enlightening detail. In turn, the Peterborough community enriched his life - his wife Jeannie Hall, whom he married in 1855, was a Peterborough native, and the daughter of Peterborough's sheriff. Fleming was always searching for broader horizons and greater challenges. His keen intelligence and scientific and artistic ability involved him in many significant accomplishments that included the establishment of Universal Standard Time, which he recommended to the Royal Canadian Institute in 1879, and which was adopted universally in 1884, the design of a prototype of an in-line skate, which he tested and pronounced "altogether satisfactory", at the age of 21, the foundation of the Royal Canadian Institute in Toronto in 1849, the design of Canada's first adhesive postage stamp, the Threepenny Beaver, in 1851, appointment as Chief Engineer of the Northern Railway in 1855, the proposal for a coast to coast railway line spanning "British North America" in 1858, and advocacy of a submarine cable which would link all the nations of the British Empire by telegraph. Pacific Cable was finally completed in 1902. In 1968 the new Community College in Peterborough was named after Sir Sandford Fleming. This sculpture includes the elements of a surveyor’s transit, the compass, time, significant dates in Fleming’s life and the globe.

I See a Wish

In the winter of 2002, the Haliburton Sculpture Forest contracted with the artists Mary Anne Barkhouse and Michael Belmore to be artists-in-residence in the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School and work with the senior art students. Michael and Mary Anne worked with the students in the winter and spring, teaching the process of creating public sculpture – from concept to drawings to models to creating the sculpture out of clay to making a plaster cast to casting the sculpture in cement to installation. The lamp post was donated to the students for their sculpture by the Municipality of Minden Hills who were replacing their lamp posts on the main street of Minden.

Haliburton County has a long history of men working in the forest, in logging camps—such those run by Mossom Boyd—or cutting timber on their own land and also a history of sons learning skills from their fathers as they helped them with their work. This sculpture, carved out of local stone recovered from rock blasted from the Pre-Cambrian shield at a nearby building site, tells the story of a man and his son having a conversation over the stump of a tree that has just been felled. “To Cut or Not to Cut” is about the conversations that occur when a son is working with his father. It is also a representation of the never-ending push and pull of our relationship with the forest. We need the timber for building shelter, for heat, for a thousand different reasons; we also need the forests to conserve our environment, to protect our water, to provide habitat and to purify the air. How do you decide what to cut and what not to cut?

 

Passage. Doorways are thresholds of our buildings, and also represent the threshold of our anxieties. Two doorway openings placed apart to imply a room, stand as both sentinels and facilitators of flow and passage. A dining table, . . . with oars, placed between these frames suggests both the safe space of home and references to this rural location. A table implies gathering, and in many ways represents the core of the family. Are there directional implications to a dining table?Is it in any way mobile? Who propels the ideas discussed at dinner? Can they stagnate or change course?

'C to C' is a free standing dry laid sculpture designed by DSWAC president John Shaw-Rimmington. It uses an attractive locally quarried random granite gneiss carefully fitted together to form two semi-circular walls. The idea is based on taking a typical dry laid sheepfold (the type you see all over parts of England and Scotland) and then slicing it down the middle and shifting one side several feet along the line of bi-section. (Sort of a 'Sheep Shear'). In effect, a charming new structure is created presenting a winding pathway through two C shaped walls. The height of the two walls, including the vertical rugged coping, is nearly 4 and a half feet high; standing between them, there is a dynamic interior space which is intimate and inviting. We have called the dry laid structure "C to C" as it alludes not only to the different parts of North America that people came from to build the structure, but also the growing interest there is in traditional dry stone construction all over Canada and the States, from sea to sea.

 

These sculptures have been made from the same mold; the surface of each one will be altered to create the feeling of uniqueness. Although these sculptures are essentially the same, their gestures and consequently their emotional content changes with each altered position.

Artist Statement:​ I developed the idea for “Harmony” a number of years ago to express the concept of a harmonic relationship - supporting, helping and finding joy together. “Harmony” is a continuation of a previous work called “Balance” which portrays keeping all extremes in good balance. For us in Europe, Canada has always been a symbol of freedom, tolerance and harmonic relationships. That is why I chose the Harmony motif for the Sculpture Symposium “Carved on the Canadian Shield”. It represents my vision of Canada and my hopes for a positive future for your country, the Sculpture Forest and the Haliburton School of Art + Design.

When asked to participate in the 150 Sculpture Symposium, “Carved on the Canadian Shield”, I knew that I wanted to sculpt a canoe. The canoe is so much a part our heritage, created by the Indigenous People, used by the early settlers as transportation, exploration, trade, and commerce. Today the canoe is much a part of the local community, for sport and recreation, and is an integral part of the tourism trade. It is a bit of an enigma, seeing a canoe in the forest but that is part of the fun.

The sculpture’s axis, from base to tip, is perfectly aligned: the compass needle pointing to the true north. The sun’s rays, at this latitude, find the lenses of the coloured panels, casting shadows that change with the skies. The streaks of pigment opaque on the transparent surfaces along with the overlapping edges of the panels create kaleidoscopic forms within these shapes. The form is explosive red. Like transparent marble veined with golds, silvers and black, the leaf/feather/louver-paged panels reflect the flight of birds, growth of the forests and books of the art of learning. Catching the wind, changing frequencies, perhaps it will even posses a voice where it stands. Imagine the red of this leaf against the white of the snow, the red of this leaf opposing the brilliance of the new spring greens, softening into the aging dust of summer, and then disappearing into the famous autumn colours of the Haliburton Highlands. The leaf for growth, the feather: mark of freedom and flight, the pages of the book: the freedom in self-knowledge… which marks the only absolute measure of success in the uncovering and unleashing of an artist’s soul. I pay tribute to the land and the rock, sun, sky and wind and the school standing within that space.

“Storied Moons” commemorates the 150 year anniversary of Canada, as well as the 150 year anniversaries of Ontario, and Dysart.
A tower of three limestone moons are wrapped in incised “audio tapes,” representing the voices that tell the stories of their histories in the making.
In my sculptures I often explore the notions of time, memory, history, and identity using moons as time capsules. Since childhood I have thought of moons as keepers of time, recording the events of the previous day as they set each morning and the sun rises.

 

My many trips across the Canadian Shield conjure up images of stone, wind, and timelessness. Over eons of time, the stone that never seems to change or move is picked up layer by microscopic layer and carried off with the wind. The wind itself, an invisible force that manifests its presence in the things that it moves and shapes, is an expression of time. I am thinking outside of time, thousands of years compressed into a moment. The idea here is to represent that layer of stone rising up and dancing like a Dervish in the wind.