Traverse the Guelph Public Transit system for a full ride of Guelph art culture
B us stops throughout the City of Guelph are looking a lot more colourful these days, drawing attention to local art and scenery.
Traverse is a self-guided outdoor art exhibition that allows spectators to walk throughout different wards while taking in local art. Every ward has the same art pieces, but walking along the paths of each individual tour allows spectators the chance to discover the distinguishing features of Guelph’s six wards.
“It’s great to create these little self-guided tours in a COVID-safe way and have it through an artist experience,” said Danna Evans, general manager of Culture and Recreation for the city.
The project was funded by the Regional Relief Recovery Fund (RRRF), a fund dedicated to increasing tourism through Fed-Dev Ontario.
“We needed to be able to have that economic spin or impact more than just the customer having cultural experiences,” Evans said. “That’s why highlighting the neighbourhood wards was a way to get people around out into different parts of our communities in Guelph.”
The project was also a part of Culture Days, an annual national celebration of art that ran from Sept. 25 to Oct. 25, 2020.
Abby Nowakowski, participant and University of Guelph art graduate who studied studio art and art history, said her work speaks about tough subjects in a bright, sunshine-like way. She decided to use colours that tie into the bright Culture Days programming palate and make her piece vibrant and eye-catching. Nowakowski said she had multiple ideas and conceptual layouts for her piece. She chose to highlight an overall theme of mutual togetherness.
“The one I ended up going with was kind of overlaying different types of people all headed in the same direction,” Nowakowski said.
“I thought it would be best for a bus shelter because it has to do a lot more with moving forward and carrying on, but also togetherness. I thought since we’re in a pandemic and not seeing each other often, it’s nice to know we’re all in this together.”
Chanel DesRoches, participating local artist and owner of Necessary Arts Collective, said her piece was called “Subconscious Garden.”
“A lot of my work doesn’t really come from happy and exciting places,” DesRoches said. “I came up with the title because the layout and coordination of colours remind me of a garden but at the same time it’s sort of a metaphor to represent the beauty behind the complicated.”
Nowakowski said that she hopes people walking by will enjoy seeing something in a bus shelter that isn’t an advertisement, and will stop and take a second to enjoy some local art. She felt the project was a great way for the city to help support local artists.
“From an artist standpoint, I love seeing the support and the appreciation that goes into the work that we are doing,” Nowakowski said. “There [are] not so many opportunities right now as artists – especially while galleries are closed or not as funded as they should be. It’s so nice that the city sees you and wants to support you.”
DesRoches said she thought the coolest part was highlighting every ward throughout Guelph and making art accessible to everyone.
“Having that reach everywhere where people might not have any idea how strong our arts and culture and creative department is in Guelph is really cool,” DesRoches said. “I think it’s great for people who have to take transit every day to have the opportunity to see art without having to go into a gallery.”
Residents and visitors will be able to view six different artworks across 39 different Guelph transit shelters until Nov. 25, 2020.
A version of this article appeared in print in The Ontarion issue 189.3 on Oct 29., 2020
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