The National Arts Centre is hoping to raise $210,000 to cover the cost of a bronze statue honouring Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson.
The fundraising campaign has already raised $40,000 toward the cost of the statue, to be erected outside the Elgin Street building.
Spokeswoman Rosemary Thompson says the NAC hopes the statue will enliven the downtown sidewalk.
“People will be able to sit down at a piano bench and play a duet with Oscar Peterson,” says Thompson.
“This is our first big statue project at the NAC. We’ve never done this before but we think he’s the perfect pick," she says. “He started with very little and he was able to do a huge amount not just for himself, but for Canada.”
Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy is behind the project and says it is well under way.
Abernethy, who also commemorated Glenn Gould with a bronze, life-sized statue in Toronto, says she is delighted to be working on the project.
“Oscar, being the kind of person that he was, brings such largesse to the whole thing," she says. "The fact that he was willing to consistently commit to excellence on his part, in every aspect of his life."
Ottawa radio guru Harvey Glatt is on the committee overseeing the project and says it has already received a substantial donation from an undisclosed corporation, as well as Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife, Laureen.
“It’s a very worthwhile project and to have something additional to his music, permanent to remind people of how special he was, that’s something that is certainly justified and deserving,” says Glatt.
Ottawa Jazz Festival officials say they are thrilled to see Peterson being commemorated. Young musicians from the festival’s Jazz Youth Summit are set to play during the June 30 unveiling of the statue.
“He was an extraordinary educator, he mentored many, many young people, he always returned their phone calls, he was extremely patient and he had a real soft spot for young players, he went out of his way to encourage them,” says Catherine O’Grady, executive producer for the festival.
Artists “bring a lot of beauty into our lives,” says Thompson.
“They captivate us, they take us to different places, they make us dream.”