TORODE Welcomes More Public Art to Calgary!

February 5, 2009
For Immediate Release

(CALGARY, AB) – The TORODE Group of Companies is thrilled to welcome two monumental sculptures to their new homes on two of Calgary’s busiest streets. The first sculpture is by world-renowned artist Steve Tobin. Titled Calgary Root, it is composed of massive rolled and bent steel pipes that soar 8 metres (24 feet) high. The second sculpture is by celebrated local artist Jeff de Boer. His artwork, Light, The Universe and Everything, is a magical steel and multi-coloured light sculpture standing 6 metres (18 feet) tall. Both sculptures are truly a feast for the eyes!

“This is a special day for TORODE. We are thrilled to be welcoming these two public artworks,” said Robin Murphy, Director of Marketing and Public Art, TORODE Group of Companies. “There is no doubt these sculptures will bring Calgarians pleasure and excitement. They will also enhance our city and empower our citizens to engage in thought-provoking conversation and debate.”

These sculptures are part of TORODE’s commitment to becoming a leader in promoting art and culture in Calgary. In early June 2008, TORODE announced Canadian artist Micah Lexier as the winner of a $1 million international invitational public art competition held by the development company. Lexier’s imaginative conceptual design of a half-kilometer long ‘scribble’ will be installed in 2010 at arriVa, the landmark condominium development in the heart of historic Victoria Park. Last September, TORODE installed American artist Dennis Oppenheim’s sculpture of an upside down church in the company’s upcoming development, Ramsay Exchange.

“I remember traveling with my children in Europe and admiring the beautiful cityscapes. I began contemplating how TORODE could help Calgary create that same feeling,” said John Torode, President, TORODE Group of Companies. “In the last year, we’ve accomplished a lot towards that end and we hope new and long-time Calgarians enjoy it and understand not just its beauty, but its value and contribution to creating a vibrant community.”

Tobin and de Boer’s sculptures will grace sidewalks in the city’s core – both flanking TORODE projects. Tobin’s will be erected in downtown Calgary enhancing the entrance to TORODE’s 8 West office tower (903 - 8th Avenue S.W) and de Boer’s will stand tall in the beltline in front of the new Hotel Arts Galleria complex (119 -12th Avenue S.W.).

Tobin was commissioned to create the creamy white enamelled, root-like steel sculpture for TORODE last year. Calgary Root took Tobin and his team of six approximately 1500 hours to create.

“I hope Calgarians and their visitors are attracted to its form as full of vitality, first, ” said Steve Tobin. “Then, I want them to experience it from all vantage points, including underneath. The figurative elements are subtle, but many people will see them. I hope they also see through the negative spaces to see the buildings and sky framed by the curved geometry. It should impact how people see the neighbourhood.”

Tobin is perhaps best known for creating the first and only 9/11 memorial near Ground Zero. Trinity Root is a bronze casting of the stump and root system from a 70-year-old sycamore tree that stood in the churchyard near St. Paul’s Chapel. The tree protected the sacred building when the World Trade Center Towers crashed to the ground, absorbing shock waves similar to those of a nuclear explosion. Trinity Root sits permanently at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway in Lower Manhattan.

The second sculpture took Calgary artist Jeff de Boer and his team over 1,300 hours to design and build. Light, The Universe and Everything is a giant, glowing steel ball made from 144 overlapping plates. Between each plate is a space that is filled with Plexiglas and LED lights. Inside the globe is almost 740 LED lights controlled by computers to perform a multitude of stunning light shows.

“This sculpture, at a glance, is very simple,” said artist Jeff de Boer. “By day it is a metal ball, by night it becomes a sea of light and movement. The transformation from darkness to light is what this work is all about. In the end, what matters is that people relate to the work in some way. My hope is that they will find it a thing of beauty, during the day and especially during the night.”

This is de Boer’s first outdoor sculpture, his first digital sculpture and the first project built by his team of engineers, designers and fabricators.

“This was my vision, but it was a team effort,” said de Boer. “This has been a wonderful project for a great patron on a fabulous site. To have a premiere sculpture outside of Hotel Arts is a great honour. I know this will be seen as one of my great works.”

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