City unveils $117,000 Algoma Street statues

THUNDER BAY – Two bronzed, half-creature wild men became permanent Algoma Street residents on Wednesday as the city unveiled its latest public art project.

Hamilton-based sculptor Brandon Vickerd’s permanent exhibit, Wild Life was inspired through his observations of deer and foxes inside Thunder Bay’s downtown cores.  

“It began to strike me that this is really a great urban centre that actually has incorporated nature into its core,” Vickerd said.

“When you come across these animals in the urban centre, it’s a bit surprising at first but then you realize they actually share the same space as us. So these pieces are about creating a conversation about how the urban centre is shared with nature and humans.”

Vickerd added he hoped the element of surprise and humour in his art when onlookers notice the creatures with human bodies would provoke a conversation about shared public space beyond the human family. 

The $117,000 project will accompany bollards and painted planters celebrating the city’s Oji-Cree and Finnish culture along the busy commercial Algoma Street block between Bay Street and Cornwall Avenue.

Coun. Rebecca Johnson chairs the city’s Clean, Green and Beautiful Committee, which oversees public art installations.

Although she had seen Wile Life designs, she was as thrilled with the final product as she was seeing passersby taking selfies before the statues' installations were even complete.

“I think this is an opportunity with the two new sculptures on Algoma Street to start a conversation about what kind of culture do we want in our community,” Johnson said.

“We can fix all the potholes we know will never go away but this is an opportunity to raise the level of where we want to be as an international community.”