News   Dec 17, 2025
Cladding Progresses at 400 King West in the Entertainment District
 653     1 
News   Dec 17, 2025
Barrel Yards Adding Rental Towers in Uptown Waterloo
 491     0 
News   Dec 17, 2025
How Thermally Broken Balconies Cut Costs, Carbon, and Heat Loss in New Developments
 443     0 

Statue on University?

C

cassiusa

Guest
Yesterday on the streetcar ride in to work I noticed something that's either new or I just haven't noticed before. At University and Dundas there's a statue of a person with arms stretched upwards and some kind of bird hover over his hands. I'm just wondering if this is new or has it been there for some time? Mods, feel free to delete this if it's nothing new.
 
It is old. One of my fav statues along that stetch actually. Very minimal...
 
Gumby Goes To Heaven, in fact, sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Airmen's Monumnet, or something like that. By artist Oscar Nemon, it was erected in 1984. With Pirelli's Monument to Multiculturalism outside of Union Station having gone up a year later, the city's artist community called for some kind of guidelines to keep the city from having to accept any crappy sculpture anyone wanted to donate to it.

42
 
Thanks guys. I don't know why I've never noticed it there before. Guess I'm not as observant as I thought. :)
 
andreapalladio and I had our first falling out over both those statues. I was a mere newbie on the forum, many moons ago. How nostalgic ...

We met at nine.

We met at eight.

I was on time.

No, you were late.

Ah yes! I remember it well.
 
Incase anybody needs a reminder.

Nemon_ardua11.jpg
 
Call me a Philistine, but I have always liked this statue. Each time I see it I am reminded of a piece of poetry about "slip the surly bonds of earth" (hope I have that right). It's a nice change (IMO) from the very classical tone of several other sculptures and monuments along University.
 
You wore a gown of gold.

I was all in blue.

Am I getting old?

Oh no! Not you!

How strong you were,
how young and gay;
A prince of love in every way.

Ah, yes, I remember it well.
 
One of the tellers at City Hall has a collection of Gumby figures at his wicket. I chuckle when I pay my property tax. I also chuckle when I see Gumby Goes To Heaven, a gift of rogue benefactors the Jackman Foundation, but I certainly see no sober connection to our war pilots and their sacrifice.

Something good came out of the incidents of Gumby, and the weak statue of the naked man trying to hold it all together outside Union Station. There is more scrutiny of public art now, and an artist advisory process, designed to prevent bad art crimes from happening to nice cities like Toronto. But I also think that the process, which seems rather incestuous, has flaws. I'd rather see a few stunning pieces than hundreds of mediocre items in the forecourts of every condo in town.
 
I don't think art should be subject to an approval process. The analogy is a bit over-wrought, but a committee would never have approved of Van Gogh.
 
Though, in the best interests of "preventing bad things from happening", who better to vet proposals for artwork in public space than artists? In which case Van Gogh would have stood a chance, since he was well known to his contemporaries in the art world.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top