Alayne McGregor
A bronze sculpture which has stood on Sparks Street since 1970 was seriously damaged on the evening of January 9, and will likely take months to repair.
Joy, by Canadian sculptor Bruce Garner, shows four children dancing together in a circle. Kevin McHale, the executive director of the Sparks Street BIA, said many people over the years have walked by and smiled at the piece, or taken a photo with it.
He said he was very upset the next morning when he discovered one of the four figures in the sculpture dangling, its hand broken away from another figure’s hand. The broken figure has been removed temporarily until the sculpture is fixed.
Several freestanding Christmas decorations on the mall were also destroyed, McHale said. “This was obviously done wilfully; it’s likely vandalism.” He said the damage has been reported to the police.
However, he was heartened by the outpouring of support the BIA has received from the public about the incident. “It has been humbling. It proves what we’ve always known that this is a love piece but it’s always one of those things that’s hard to measure.”
The sculpture was commissioned and donated to the mall authority by prominent men’s clothing store owner E.R. (Bud) Fisher. McHale said he has been talking to both Fisher’s family and Garner’s widow about repairing the sculpture.
Fixing the sculpture won’t be quick, McHale said, and it’s likely to be expensive. With assistance from the city’s Arts and Heritage Development Branch, he’s currently bringing in expert firms to inspect the damage and assess how to fix it properly. He didn’t yet know how long this would take.
“The key for us will be to make sure that we get it done as quickly as possible but get it done right.”
Besides repairing the broken sections, he said he also hoped to use this opportunity to refurbish the sculpture after five decades, giving it “a bit of a polish.”
McHale said that Joy stood out because, in the middle of the federal government precinct, “there’s nothing political about it. It’s just such a fun piece. It’s whimsical. It’s amusing.
“I think public art like that is important, not just on Sparks Street but in the whole core. That’s something organizations like ours can assist with. I’d really love to see more of that throughout our downtown spaces to set them apart.”