Surrey’s growing public art program is the focus of the next Thursday Artist Talk hosted by Surrey Art Gallery Association.
Hossam Meawad, the city’s Public Art Co-ordinator since taking the job last April, will speak at the event on the evening of Jan. 4, as part of the gallery’s monthly series.
Surrey has more than 70 works of public art, with many of them at parks, recreation centres and libraries.
In his illustrated talk, Meawad will introduce several of those examples, highlighting different types of artwork from paintings and murals to monumental sculptures and light-based artwork.
“You’ll learn about Surrey’s Public Art Program, including how Surrey residents are involved in the selection process and why artworks are chosen for certain places,” says an event advisory.
The City Centre area of Surrey alone boasts 23 examples of public art, according to a list of the collection on the city’s website (Surrey.ca). Detailed are works such as Glen Andersen’s “Were It Not for You” (a “bas-relief” sculpture that decorates the central fountain wall in Holland Park), Studio Roso’s “Together” (hundreds of aluminum birds suspended from city hall’s atrium ceiling) and Artform Sculpture Studio’s “Protecting the Future, Serving the Present” (a statue of a firefighter and two kids, also at Holland Park).
• READ MORE:
Surrey gets serious about public art (photos), from October 2016.
New ‘Fern’ art at expanded Newton rec centre designed to reduce bird-window collisions, from September 2017.
Meawad graduated with honours from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies and Art History. He received a Master of Architecture from the University of British Columbia. He is currently involved in the management and co-ordination of various public art projects across the city.
Admission is free for the Jan. 4 event, which runs from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at 13750 88th Ave., Bear Creek Park. Refreshments are provided at the gathering, presented by Surrey Art Gallery Association in partnership with Surrey Art Gallery, and with support from the Arts Council of Surrey.
More details about Surrey’s public art program are posted at surrey.ca/publicart.
• READ MORE: New ‘landmark’ sculpture at Surrey rec centre to be crafted by Spanish artist, from November 2017.