Public Art and Artists

Calling Community by Brendan Fernandes is a monumental public sculpture that celebrates Newmarket’s rich cultural diversity and spirit of togetherness. Rooted in Fernandes’ personal history as a Kenyan-Indian-Canadian raised in Newmarket, this work transforms museological wire armatures—often used to support African masks—into soaring stainless steel forms up to 16 feet tall. These abstract yet anthropomorphic figures evoke movement, migration, and memory, welcoming visitors into Mulock Park like a gathering of dancers or a family. Both a tribute to the artist’s roots and a call to collective belonging, Calling Community is a beacon for inclusivity, resilience, and intergenerational joy in the heart of Newmarket.

Artist statement/bio

(b. 1979, Nairobi) Brendan Fernandes is an internationally recognized Canadian artist exploring issues of race, queer culture, migration, and protest through a hybridity of dance and visual art. He received the Platform Award (2024), Artadia Award (2019), and Smithsonian Fellowship (2020) and is a Whitney Independent Study Program alum and Rauschenberg Fellow (2014). His work has shown at major venues like the Whitney Biennial, MoMA, and the National Gallery of Canada. Currently based in Chicago, Brendan is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University and is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery (Chicago) and Susan Inglett Gallery (New York). Brendan was raised in Newmarket and attended elementary and high school locally. 

The term branch refers to the natural division of a plant stem (such as a bough that grows from a tree trunk) or an object that extends from a mainline or source (such as a stream that splits from a river). Branches can be understood as tangential objects that extend under their own autonomy and logic. The sculpture titled Continuous Branch is a branch, cast in bronze, that extends the entire length of the Entrance Bridge Guardrail, meandering through the barrier at various points. Along its path, visitors will be entranced by bronze elements such as wasp nests, snails, flowers, nuts, and other organic components. The entire sculpture will be created through an innovative bronze casting process, where organic matter gathered from Mulock Park will be transformed into bronze and meticulously combined to form the sculpture. Paying homage to the site’s natural beauty and biological richness, Branch will be a captivating work that provides an intimate viewing experience for visitors to Mulock Park.

Artist statement/bio

Brandon Vickerd is Dean of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) at York University in Toronto, where he is also a Professor of Visual Arts (studio) and former Chair of the Department of Visual Arts and Art History. His research and teaching focus on sculpture with a particular focus on public art. Recent public art projects include Seeing Animals commissioned by the City of Surrey, BC (2024); Float commissioned by the Regional Municipality of Halifax, NS (2023); A state of rest commissioned by the City of Ottawa (2023); The Heights commissioned by the Duke Heights BIA (2023); and The Wilds of Kingston commissioned by the City of Kingston (2021).

Purposely diverse, his studio work straddles the line between high and low culture, acting as a catalyst for critical thought and addressing the failed promise of a modernist future predicated on boundless scientific advancement. Whether through craftsmanship, the creation of spectacle, or humor, the goal of his work is to provoke the viewer into questioning the dominant myth of progress ingrained in Western worldviews. Vickerd has received numerous awards and grants from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Arts Council.

Artists Michael Belmore and D’Andrea Bowie, based in the Whitchurch-Highlands region, created a new collaborative sculptural installation that draws inspiration from the natural world and a shared reverence for trees. Coming from distinct cultural backgrounds— Belmore as an Anishinaabe artist and Bowie of European settler descent—the artists find common ground through their creative practices and a deep connection to land and place. Their work at Mulock Park features cast cement tree stumps enveloped in ceramic forms, embedded with cast glass interior elements, mounted on granite boulders. This unique fusion of materials—rock, clay, glass, and stone—bridges Belmore’s expertise in stone carving with Bowie’s background in ceramics, resulting in evocative sculptural pieces that reference both transformation and decay. Central to the project is an exploration of site-specific materiality. Clay sourced directly from the Mulock Park construction site and trees gathered from surrounding green spaces root the work in the local ecology. Through these choices, the artists investigate how place can shape creative expression and how the remnants of nature—particularly trees in various states of decomposition—reveal overlooked beauty in the cycle of life and decay. This collaboration is not only a celebration of shared values and environmental stewardship, but also a poetic response to the landscapes the artists inhabit.

Artist statements/bios

D’Andrea Bowie is an artist based in the Whitchurch-Highlands, on the rural outskirts of Toronto. Her work explores the alchemical potential of world-building elements through an eco-feminist lens that de-centers the human and highlights reciprocity between maker, material, and time. She holds an MFA from York University, where she received the SSHRC CGS Master’s Scholarship and the Susan Crocker and John Hunkin Award. While raising her children, she earned a BFA in Sculpture and Installation from OCAD University, receiving several awards and scholarships. Her projects have been supported by the Ontario Arts Council and shown in group exhibitions, community spaces, and solo shows, most recently Weathered Rock at The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Kitchener-Waterloo and Winter Wheat at The Goldfarb Gallery in Toronto. 

Michael Belmore works with a range of materials and processes that may seem disparate, yet together speak to the environment, the land, the water, and what it means to be Anishinaabe. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design, he completed his MFA at the University of Ottawa in 2019. With a career spanning over 25 years, Belmore is an internationally recognized artist whose work is held in major collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the National Museum of the American Indian – Smithsonian Institution. In recent years he has completed many notable public art commissions including Aazhoge, a 3 metre steel sculpture located on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Notable exhibitions include Every. Now. Then: Reframing Nationhood at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, and HIDE: Skin as Material and Metaphor at the Smithsonian’s George Gustav Heye Center. Belmore’s inspiration often comes from seemingly simple acts—the swing of a hammer, the warmth of fire, the persistence of waves on a shore—gestures that suggest much larger forces at work.

Anishinaabe artist Nyle Miigizi Johnston  designed the custom drain covers for the Wet Plaza within the Cedar Circle, a summer water play feature and winter skate area. His work honours the sacredness of water, drawing on Indigenous creation stories and traditional teachings that emphasize our connection to land, spirit, and nature. Johnston’s designs will serve as daily reminders of the importance of sustainability, stewardship, and the powerful presence of Mother Earth. Through this permanent artwork, he invites visitors to reflect on water not just as a resource, but as a relative; something to respect, protect, and revere.

In traditional Anishinaabe knowledge, the Seven Grandmother and Grandfather Teachings are a set of guiding principles passed down from generation to generation, as a guide to living a good life in peace and without conflict.

The teachings—Love, Respect, Bravery, Truth, Honesty, Humility and Wisdom—offer ways to enrich one’s life while existing in peace and harmony with all Creation.

Individual drain cover image titles: 

Debwewin

To speak only to the extent, we have lived or experienced. Commonly referred to as Truth.

• Deb = to a certain extent
• We = sound through speech
• Win = a way it is done

Truth is represented by the turtle as the turtle was here during the creation of Earth and carries the teachings of life on his back.

Dabasendiziwin

To think lower of oneself in relation to all that sustains us. Commonly referred to as Humility.

• Dabas = low or lower
• End = pertaining to thought
• Izi = state or condition
• Win = a way it is done

Humility is represented by the wolf. The wolf lives for his pack and the ultimate loss is to be an outcast.

Manaaji’idiwin

To go easy on one another and all of Creation. Commonly referred to as Respect.

• Manaaji = to go easy on someone
• Idi = in a reciprocal way
• Win = a way it is done

Respect is represented by the buffalo. The buffalo gives every part of his being to sustain the human way of living. The buffalo respects the balance and needs of others.

Zaagi’idiwin

Unconditional love between one another including all of Creation, humans and non-humans. Commonly referred to as Love.

• Zaag = to emerge, come out or flow out
• Idi = in a reciprocal way
• Win = a way it is done

The eagle represents love because he has the strength to carry all of the teachings.

Gwayakwaadiziwin

To live correctly and with virtue. Commonly referred to as Honesty.

• Gwayak = correctly, straightly, and rightly
• Aadizi = he/she lives
• Win = a way it is done

Honesty is represented by either the raven or the sabe. They both understand who they are and how to walk in their life.

Zoongide’ewin

To live with a solid, strong heart. Commonly referred to as Bravery or Courage.

• Zoongi = solid, strong
• De’e = a form of heart
• Win = a way it is done

Bravery is represented by the bear. The mother bear has the courage and strength to face her fears and challenges while protecting her young. To face life with courage is bravery.

Nibwaakaawin

To live with vision. Commonly referred to as Wisdom.

• Ni = the soul within
• Waa = pertaining to sight
• Kaa = an abundance
• Win = a way it is done

The beaver represents wisdom because he uses his natural gift by altering the environment for his family’s survival.

Artist statement/bio

Nyle Miigizi Johnston, known by the spirit name Wiishkoonseh Miigizi'enh, embodies the essence of the Whistling White Headed Eagle. Raised in the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, he embarked on an apprenticeship with storytellers during his formative years. His artistic wellspring draws from the rich tapestry of woodland painters, storytellers, and the profound heritage of his Indigenous culture. Johnston boasts an impressive public art portfolio, and his works stand as a testament to his cutting-edge legacy within the realm of Contemporary Art. Driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of form, concept, and presentation, he assumes a pivotal role as the lead Indigenous Consultant of The Highness Indigenous Creation Lab that is dedicated to redefining traditional artistic practices and storytelling mediums in groundbreaking ways. Johnston’s professional voyage is intrinsically aligned with his aspiration to be an influential thought leader, a vanguard of innovation, and a catalyst for social change.

Leaf Logs explores a connection between nature and mathematics. The shape of any leaf fits within a stretched or compressed pentagon. This work translates the geometry and behaviour of leaves into a kid-scaled playscape that encourages interaction and fosters imagination and connection.

The sculpture is a grouping of pentagonal logs that range from 12 inches to 10 feet. The shorter logs offer spots for kids to jump and caregivers to sit, while the taller columns suggest a forested thicket, a space for little bodies to weave, whisper secrets, or hide and seek.

At the top of every column is a pentagonal leaf positioned in alternating directions. This rotation suggests the joy of fluttering leaves while also nodding to children’s playful hands as they wave to each another, reach to catch a ball, or tilt to trace a cloud.

The leaves are painted in the verdant shades of spring. Whether visitors interact with the sculpture in the fall as leaves tumble or in the spring when they slowly unfurl, the sculpture’s sky-oriented faces remind us that humans and nature bloom when directed toward the light.

Artist statement

“My sculptures explore architecture, modular construction, and the charisma of geometry. Using modularity as a starting point, I measure, cut, and fold detailed cardboard maquettes that function as three-dimensional models for my larger works. Using geometry to shape complex tilting and asymmetrical volumes, my compositions consider negative space as a component in each finished form. In referencing utopian architecture, public shelters, and colour swatches appropriated from developers of suburban homes, my sculptures operate as speculative forms grounded in the here-and-now, inviting us to consider interactions between form, colour, and the viewer themselves as an intellectual and physical being.”

Bio

Laura Marotta received her MFA from the University of Guelph, where she received the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, and a College of the Arts Deans Scholarship. Her work has been exhibited in significant exhibitions at the University of Waterloo Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Art Gallery of Windsor, Art Gallery of Mississauga, and McMaster Museum of Art. Marotta’s work was also spotlighted at the 2017 Public Art Year in Review Summit. Permanent public art commissions include Octagon for Trafalgar Park commissioned by the Town of Oakville, and Bead Maze commissioned by Metrolinx and the City of Hamilton. She is a recipient of the 2015 Established Artist Award from the City of Hamilton, and grants from the Ontario Arts Council.

Enter and Flow is a site specific relief mural that finds its inspiration in the unseen processes that are involved in bringing a public artwork into being. Mounted on a functioning gate that provides vehicular access to Mulock Park’s maintenance shed, the relief mural appears as a layered collage. Incorporating raised shapes and forms that have been extracted from different stages of process work, including the artist’s own preparatory work such as preliminary sketches, scribbles, and notes, and the architectural plans for the site itself. Like much of the artist’s work, the piece embraces the idea of process as final work by formalizing and highlighting details that could otherwise be viewed as unimportant or mundane. As a gate to a maintenance building, the artwork invites public curiosity about the work involved in building and maintaining a public park. Emerging from a set of ideas about the role of art, architecture, and public space, the work explores the relationship between object and viewer, and aims to present abstract, open-ended visual cues by transcending the overtly representational.

Artist statement

Georgia Dickie makes sculptural work out of found objects that she collects as part of an ever-growing “inventory” of urban debitage. For the past decade, this inventory has maintained a process-oriented practice that highlights her hands-on dedication to the humblest materials. Dickie’s process of reassembling these materials into new arrangements is based on a logic of eschewing and rebalancing their assigned functions. By staging these intricate assemblages, she not only reveals the inherent limitations of material value and meaning, but subverts the ways we are conditioned to see the world in a for-profit, essentializing society, and considers the environment, housing, and value. Dickie considers our subjective choices, the value-based decisions we make in collecting and discarding items, in order to tease out a reflection and reconsideration of how we experience our material surroundings.

Bio

Georgia Dickie (b.1989) lives and works in Toronto, Canada. She received her BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2011. She was one of the recipients of the 2020 Sobey Art Award, and was the 2014 recipient of the Toronto Friends of the Visual Arts Artist Prize. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions internationally. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include: Frozen Game at Soft Opening, London; Jerky Out, Gnar In at Cooper Cole, Toronto; Agouti Sky at Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada; Those Who Feed Birds at Jeffrey Stark, New York; How Many Antennae at Cooper Cole, Toronto; Encoach at Springsteen Gallery, Baltimore with Keith J. Varadi; CLOSING at Et. Al, etc., San Francisco with Bjorn Copeland; and Awful Residues at Halsey McKay, East Hampton, USA. Selected group exhibitions include: Ingrid Castelein, Cobra, Georgia Dickie at Office Baroque, Antwerp; Respiration at Cooper Cole, Toronto; I hear your keys clinking at Fragment Gallery, Moscow; Condo London at Emalin Gallery hosting Cooper Cole, London; Luca Vitone, Georgia Dickie, David Jablonowski at Rolando Anselmi, Berlin; Condo New York at Rachel Uffner Gallery, New York; Quart d’heure américain at Mains d’Oeuvres, Saint-Ouen, France; True Lies at Night Gallery, Los Angeles; Showroom at Art Museum at the University of Toronto; and Freedom Culture at The Journal, New York. Dickie has been awarded Visual Arts Fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center (2024) and the Fine Arts Work Center (2022-2023), and served as artist-in-residence at Est Nord Est, résidence d’artistes (2022) and at Acme Studios AiR Program (2014-2015). Her work has been featured in Artforum, Frieze, Elle Canada, and Canadian Art Magazine, among others.

The History Blooms painting was created by Newmarket artist and illustrator Rachel Gordon, founder of Rachel’s Beautiful Mess Co. A lifelong Newmarket/Aurora resident, Rachel creates artwork that celebrates the beauty found in nature, community, and the everyday magic that surrounds us.

Created to commemorate the opening of Mulock Park, Rachel’s painting draws inspiration from the estate's historic architecture, vibrant peony gardens, natural landscapes, and the sense of connection fostered when people gather together in shared public spaces. Through expressive colour and illustration, the artwork honours both the rich history of the Mulock Estate and its exciting new chapter as a place for community, recreation, creativity, and celebration.

Bio

Working across both traditional and digital mediums, Rachel's work honours life’s messy, magical moments with bold colour, whimsical imagery, patterns, and uplifting messages rooted in resilience, connection, and optimism. Drawing inspiration from the landscapes, places, and stories that shape a community's identity, her art celebrates finding wonder in the everyday.

Rachel has also collaborated with the Town of Newmarket as a Community Brand Partner on the nmrkt. initiative, another project celebrating Newmarket's history & everyday magic — its places, stories and people — with joy, colour and hometown love.  

RBMco. creates artwork that celebrates nature’s wonder and life’s beautiful chaos — a splash of colour to brighten your world and spark joy.