It All Started With Love

Sometime during July, I was taking some landscape photos around Brundage Point River Park in Grand Bay. There were two sculptures and I decided to using them as points of reference and scale in my photography. I was just being a tourist, play around with my camera settings.

I had checked out the tourist information office and read on an interpretive plaque that  there had been a fire that destroyed a large number of home in the town in early 1900’s and the dedication plaque was in Unity Park.

I located the fire dedication, and right beside it was another sculpture. This one was called Love. Now my curiosity was piqued; I read all the script on the plaque: the name, the artist, the town sponsor, and the insignia of New Brunswick Sculpture Symposium. The light went on; this is an art organization. A story was forming in my mind and I had some research to do to find out how many sculptures, and there locations.

In 2007, US sculptor Jesse Salisbury brainstormed an idea to put together an event in Acadia National Park in Maine, named the Maine Schoodic international Sculpture Symposium.  Seven sculptures came from that initial symposium.  The sculptures were placed in various locations along the coast line of Maine.  The roots of the idea took hold and today there are thirty-four sculptures creating the Maine Sculpture Trail.

Five years ago (2012), the New Brunswick International Sculptures Symposium introduced a closely emulated model to our province, with Sculpture Saint John. After three successful symposium, eighteen sculptures are now in place connecting communities within New Brunswick. The goal is to have thirty-five sculptures throughout New Brunswick by 2020. The two trails; Maine’s, link to New Brunswick’s, will create a unique cross-border tourist trail of contemporary art from world renown sculptors

I compiled my list, grouped them into regions, tracked down their exact coordinates, intersection, parks etc, then dug into points of interest in each area. When I was satisfied my due-diligence supplied me with enough Meat from each location, to make the trips worth while, I headed out to find them.  Here is how the hunt went down.

I Got Love, River Gate, and the Untitled from my Westfield-Grand Bay , and the story Westfield to Grand Bay, The Best Of  

The sculpture Peace was at the entrance to the Pines Conservation Park, near Cambridge Narrows, which was on the way to the The Cuts Quarry; A Swimming Hole Secret.

 

Sense of Place was found on a very product trip to Sussex New Brunswick- Don’t Just Pass Through

Rendezvous was captured during a trip to Fredericton, the day I attend the opening of the new wing of the art Galley and I wrote Beaverbrook Bigger Better

Sunshine and Moonlight, Door to Dreams, First Day, Windows on the Water, and Wind and Water, I scrounged up, then went for a dip at Dominion Park Beach in Saint John, which became part of Summer Of The Beach story.

The Meeting Place was easy, it is right next to the mall where I shop in Oromocto, and I became part of 10 Things You Didn’t Know; Oromocto, NB

The Arc and Cascade, were featured in How I Ended Up in Quispamsis. NB a story of my adventures from Rothsay to Quispamsis.

My favourite; the Peace Wing, one of the features behind the story of Humanity Found in Hampton, NB.

Leaving Time and Universe, Story of the Stone, Water Stone and Passage of light not checked off my list. It saddening me all fall, that I would potentially would have to wait till next season. Fortunately, a window of good weather and decent health shone on me the first weekend in November and I made a day trip to the border of New Brunswick and of course, there is always a story to tell. Stay tuned.

Should you wish to follow the sculpture trail,  It helps to start with Love.

1.  St Stephen , Time and Universe, Jhon Gogaberishvili, Budd Avenue
2.  Saint Andrews, Story of the Stone,Karin Van Ommeren, Indian Point park
3.  St George, Water Stone, James Boyd, beside Town Hall
4.  Blacks Harbour, Passage of Light, Petre Petrov, Municipal Park
5. Saint Johns Sunshine and moonlight, Hiroyuki Asano,  Rockwood park,
6. Saint Johns Window on the Water, Hitoshi Tanaka, Harbour Passage walking trail.
7.  Saint Johns Door to Dream, Hiroyuki Asano,  NBCC campus,
8. Saint John First Day, Jhon Gogaberishvili, at UNB Saint John campus
9.  Westfield Grand Bay River Gate, Radoslav Sultov, Brundage River Park,
10.  Westfield Grand Bay Untitled, Alessio Ranaldi, Brundage River Park,
11. Westfield Grand Bay, Love, Fetiye Boudevin, France Unity Park
12. Oromocto, The Gathering Place, Jesse Salisbury, Hazen Park
13. Fredericton, Rendezvous, Catherine Levi, France St Anne’s Point Dr, south river front-trail
14. Sussex, Sense of Place, Hew Chee Fong, Australia 701-703 Main Street
15. Cambridge Narrows, Peace, Fetiye Boudevin  Pines Conservation Park
16. Rothsay, The Arc, Jo Kley, Germany  Rothsay commons
17. Quispamsis, Cascade,Agnessa Petrova, Bulgaria The Landing Center
18. Hampton, Peace Wing, James Boyd, New Brunswick, Town Square

Cheers and Happy Travels from Maritime Mac