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Guelph artist Carolyn Meili was the City of Guelph’s 2017 Artist in Residence.
In its fourth year, the Artist in Residence program engages the community in creative experiences and embeds artistic activity in a variety of public spaces.
In a public call for entry earlier this year, artists were invited to submit proposals that considered Canada’s 150th birthday and the City’s 190th anniversary while encouraging reflection of Guelph’s collective history in a unifying way.
Following review of 14 submissions, the City’s Council-appointed Public Art Advisory Committee unanimously recommended awarding the residency to Meili. Her proposal sought to challenge the traditional off-limits nature of art on display while exploring symbols of Guelph, and by extension Canada, and how they reflect and transform our sense of self.
Photo credit: Courtesy of The Ontarion
About Carolyn’s project
With the help of Guelph’s residents, Carolyn gathered a visual language of symbols over the course of the residency that was representative of our community. These symbols informed the design and construction of wearable sculptures that were be fashioned into an art exhibition, organized in a static, frozen-in-time parade, inside City Hall over Culture Days weekend.
About the artist
Carolyn Meili is an inter-disciplinary artist with a practice that includes drawing, sculpture, photography, performance, and site-specific installation. Her work uses familiar everyday materials and found objects to confront the boundary between daily life and art. With work that has been exhibited across Canada, Meili strives to create an emotional and thoughtful experience, inviting performative relationships between the art object and the viewer’s imagination. She has a bachelor of fine arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and a master of fine arts from the University of Saskatchewan. She is also the founder of Guelph’s Capacity 3 Gallery and the director of the Guelph Film Festival.
Carolyn Meili
Photo by Cami Brenchley Photography
For more information
Jen Rafter, Cultural Program and Event Coordinator
Culture, Tourism and Community Investment, Public Services
519-822-1260 extension 2629
[email protected]