Potters set to plant tribute to founders

By Natalie Rocha

The Ottawa Guild of Potters is gearing up to put 9,000 handcrafted ceramic sculptures on display on the grounds of the Canadian Museum of Nature.

The outdoor public art installation, called Populace, will honour the people who were present in Ottawa at the time of Confederation as a way to celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial.

“(Populace) is made up of three pieces: roses to recognize the British, fleurs-de-lis to recognize the French, and feathers to recognize Canada’s Indigenous peoples,” said Kim Lulashnyk, head of communications for the project.

Hilde Lambrechts is the creative mind behind Populace, and she has made hundreds of flowers and feathers by hand in her basement studio.

Lambrechts, Lulashnyk and project coordinator Kirstin Davidson have enlisted the help of more than 1,300 volunteers from local community centres and high schools in order to bring their vision to life.

The project is set to be complete by June 17.

“It has turned out to be a community project that has extended beyond the boundaries of the Ottawa Guild of Potters,” said Lulashnyk.

“We’re looking forward to a future of engagement, equality, peace and harmony,” she said.

“It’s just so much fun to see that people already feel that way and have the same vision.”

So far they have approximately 7,500 ceramic pieces in total, and are planning to host a weekend-long pottery workshop at the end of April in hopes of reaching their goal.

“I think we already achieved bringing clay to the public and engaging people with Canada’s 150th birthday in a very positive way where everybody is excited,” said Lambrechts.

Davidson said working on the installation with her fellow guild members has brought them closer together.

“We don’t really have an opportunity to come together on a group project and so (Populace) offered that, which was really wonderful,” she said.

“We recognized when we sat down and talked about this project that the members of the guild, generally speaking, work in their own studios.”

Added Lambrechts: “I think it sort of linked the individual guild members together and they became more like a community, but also we have extended that to the public at large and all groups so it’s as inclusive as it can be.”

John Swettenham, the museum’s director of marketing and media relations, believes the community art project will help draw tourists to Ottawa this summer.

“(Populace) will help attract tourists to the city and it will also help all folks in Ottawa-Gatineau, for that matter, better celebrate (Canada 150),” he said.

Funding has been provided various backers, including Ottawa 2017, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, the Ottawa Arts Council and the Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa.

The installation will be open and free to the public on June 17, and runs until September 4.