A colourful, circular sculpture towering over traffic rushing past on Highbury Avenue is a whimsical reminder of the city’s railway heritage while cleverly linking it with the industrial revolution underway in St. Thomas.
Titled Imagination Station, the 25-foot high wooden toy train is local artist Briony Douglas’ first permanent public art commission.
The Woodstock native has had her installations appear across North America for cultural institutions and international brands and now her latest work graces the gateway to the city’s industrial park, Yarmouth Yards.
Imagination Station was assembled and unveiled at a ceremony Thursday afternoon at the intersection of Dennis Road and Highbury Avenue.
“My work is rooted in the idea that familiar objects carry extraordinary emotional weight,” observed Douglas.
In an interesting turn of events, the City of St. Thomas reached out to Douglas following her work with the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
As is the case with so many things in life, some assembly was required, noted Douglas.,
She has undertaken projects for Cadillac, Adidas, American Express, Shake Shack and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Douglas observed, “The wooden train exists almost universally in our collective memory. By enlarging it to a architectural scale, it becomes something entirely different, not simply an object of nostalgia, but a place for reflection, gathering and shared experience.
“I hope this sculpture encourages people to pause, reconnect with their own stories and consider how public art can transform the way we experience a city.”
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Sean Dyke, CEO St. Thomas Economic Development Corp., pointed out, from a personal perspective, “We’re standing right now in what is likely the best industrial development in southern Ontario.”
He continued, “And as we stand here, this is going to change so much in the next number of years as companies chose St. Thomas for their developments. And they’re always going to have this (the sculpture) here to welcome them as their employees and their customers and their suppliers come into our community.”
St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston added, “The art that we’ve done in St. Thomas is done on purpose and sometimes done fairly whimsical because we have a huge industrial base and that isn’t always really pretty to look at.
“So to add some prettiness to the art and some thoughtful thinking to the art, I thank you.”
Douglas closed out the ceremony with, “This is meant to make people stop, imagine, have hope and be happy. I want to be the reason in someone’s day that you smile and I think that that’s really important and this is beyond an honour to be able to add to your community. Kudos to you for the amount of art and people that you support here, it is incredible.”
Written by Ian McCallum
Photo courtesy City of St. Thomas
MBC News photo
Photo courtesy City of St. Thomas
