Ursula Johnson Listed as Artist Who Deserves a Major Public Art Installation In Halifax
‘There should be so much Ursula Johnson work around this town, we'd get sick of it’ writes Morgan Mullin
5 artists who deserve a major public art installation in Halifax
Imagine the city if talents like Ursula Johnson and Raven Davis had large-scale artwork all over the place.
Morgan Mullin for The Coast
Imagine a Halifax where every public space had art as part of it. Close your eyes and picture a trip to the mall that included taking in a mural or two. A visit to a government building also meaning a visit to a mixed-media installation.
When, this Wednesday, Halifax Regional Council voted unanimously to spend $125,000 to help foot the bill of the art installations at Queen’s Marque, it felt like the perfect time to ask: Why can’t Halifax be so full of public art that a walk down the street feels like strolling in an open-air museum? What if we made it so that, instead of waiting until the next Nocturne festival to get a fix of art injected into unexpected places, we made our city feel like a never-ending version of the event?
The best part? There’s more than enough local talent deserving of a large-scale installation. Here, we’re highlighting five artists we can’t believe some rich developer, big donor or the city itself hasn’t tapped for a public piece of artwork.
Considering that the first Atlantic Canadian artist to take home the Sobey Award (the biggest prize in visual arts in the country) lives right here in Halifax; considering that she had a residence at the prestigious Banff Centre for the Arts; considering she co-authored the first-ever text to translate contemporary art discourse into Mi’kmaw; we have to ask: How has Johnson—who blends installation, sculpture, performance and traditional Mi'kmaq basket-weaving—not been given carte blanche to build something challenging and beautiful in a public space in Halifax?
Since she’s one of the biggest names in art at a national level, we should be sick of seeing her work around town. Instead, the city’s newest gallery was able to claim her as part of their roster, showing how badly Halifax needs Maynard Street’s The Blue Building, where Johnson will be part of the gallery’s upcoming solo show ITHA: Living Room.
2. Raven Davis, 3. Lou Sheppard, 4. Lindsay Dobbin and 5. Jenny Yujia Shi round out the list of the 5 artists.