New Saanich art display created by hundreds of residents nearly complete
Staff at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre in Saanich are putting the finishing touches on the “HeArts Together” community art project.
The public art installation is collaborative community project that invited residents in Saanich to come together while remaining at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 400 ceramic hearts were crafted by families, children at day camps, and seniors in care homes.
“When everything got shut down we wanted to still connect with people,” said Cedar Hill Recreation Centre program technician for the arts, Rene Sala.
“We decided we would create an opportunity for folks to do within their homes to provide them with a creative outlet that they couldn’t access during the beginning of the pandemic,” she said.
Starting in June 2020, Sala and her team distributed the ceramic hearts kits to people in Saanich. Artists were asked to focus their creations on something that was meaningful to them as they were experiencing isolation due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“We wanted them to shine a light on how they were feeling or who they were thankful for during the pandemic,” said Sala. “A theme of inclusion is what we have when we lay it all out together.”
The handcrafted ceramic hearts were collected by Cedar Hill Recreation Centre arts department staff during the past 12 months to be included in the installation. Once completed, the community art project will represent the bringing together of a community isolated by the pandemic through art.
“It was a way to bring people together even though we were apart,” said Sala.
The “HeArts Together” art installation is set out on three separate panels that surround planter boxes at the main entrance to the Saanich recreation centre. The location at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre was chosen because it is considered to be a place of gathering for the community.
“We thought by gathering all this artwork from around the community and having a place where people could come and view it was really meaningful,” said Sala. “It's a piece of art that was created by 400 members of our community so we want people to see it.”
The ceramic heart creations that adorn the approximately 20-foot-long panels are decorated with hearts, rainbows and words of encouragement, such as, be safe, have fun and love.
“It's really tactile and low so kids can get in and touch the little bits and pieces and people can come and search for the ones they’ve made,” said Sala. “Its going to be a legacy piece that is going to be here for years to come as a reminder of a time when we all had to struggle through the same thing.”
The community art installation at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre is one of 12 “Hearts Together” displays that can be found in public parks throughout Saanich. The unifying hearts theme of the displays were chosen to symbolize caring for loved ones, neighbours in the community, and expressing gratitude for the efforts of essential workers during the pandemic.
“We really worked together as a community to create the art even though we couldn’t gather and that’s meaningful,” said Sala. “For those of us in the arts department, to know we could make an impact that way within our community is also very meaningful.”
Sala says she and her team at Cedar Hill Recreation Centre expect to complete the community art installation by June 22.
Information on the “HeArts Together” project can be found on the Saanich website here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.