Fashion Arts PAC Member Wins Proposal to Design Public Art Piece

Congratulations to Fashion Arts and Business Program Advisory Committee (PAC) member Angela DeMontigny, who was selected to complete public artwork for the James Street North Plaza.

The public was invited to provide comments on the submissions both online at the City of Hamilton website and at the Williams Fresh Cafe - Waterfront from November 4 to 24, 2019. After reviewing 24 submissions and shortlisting 6 for public consultation, a jury of volunteer citizens and artists selected the work "All Our Relations" by Angela as the winning proposal.

Angela's concept for the public art piece visually gives thanks to "All Our Relations". Her illustrations consist of the land, water, creatures of every kind and the historical original peoples of the area. This includes the Haudenosaunee, Mississauga as well as other nations.

As an Indigenous designer, Angela acknowledges the importance of land, the natural world, the universe, and the spirit world. She wanted to provide a visual reminder of the beauty that surrounds us every day and recognize the Indigenous people.

"All Our Relations" is a series of five, 40’ tall works made of steel and glass. Each piece presents the designs created by Angela through the use of 10,000 handmade glass beads created by local craftsperson Paull Rodrigue. The beads are suspended in a steel structure - giving them strength and allowing the composition to remain true. The composition references the bead working practice of numerous Indigenous cultures and more specifically the beadwork within Angela’s fashion design practice. Once installed, the glass in the works will allow the light of the waterfront to influence the design, and will cast brilliant shows and colours throughout the plaza.

Installation is expected in the spring of 2021 upon completion of the James Street Plaza. Read more about the project on the Hamilton Waterfront Trust here.

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