Four Teams Selected to Propose Designs for the Global Affairs Canada Commemorative Artwork

News release

OTTAWA, March 31, 2021

The Government of Canada announced today the four teams who have qualified to prepare design proposals for the Global Affairs Canada Commemorative Artwork.

The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced that the following teams of artists, landscape architects, architects and other professionals have been shortlisted by a jury of experts following a Request for Qualifications that opened on September 16, 2020, and closed on January 20, 2021:

  • Team Anholt: Jill Anholt Studio, artist (Vancouver, BC); PFS Landscape Architects, landscape architecture (Vancouver, BC); HOK Architects, architecture (Ottawa, ON); Faith Moosang, researcher and writer (Vancouver, BC)
  • Team Leinster: The Planning Partnership, landscape architecture (Toronto, ON); Douglas Coupland, artist (Vancouver, BC); Karen Mills, public art consultant (Hamilton, ON)
  • Team MacLeod: Polymetis, artist (Toronto, ON); James B. Lennox & Associates, landscape architecture (Ottawa, ON); GRC Architects, architecture (Ottawa, ON)
  • Team Rapoport: Plant Architect Inc., architecture and landscape architecture (Toronto, ON); Adrian Göllner, artist (Ottawa, ON); Michael Belmore, artist (Whitchurch-Stouffville, ON); Pierre Poussin, artist (Toronto, ON); Mark Thompson Brandt, stakeholder engagement (Ottawa, ON); Fredericka Gregory, diplomatic advisor (Ottawa, ON)

The teams have until October 2021 to submit their design proposals.

The proposals will be evaluated by the same jury that reviewed the Request for Qualifications, which comprises experts in the fields of visual arts and urban design, and includes representatives from Global Affairs Canada and affected families:

  • Serge Belet, Senior Exhibitions Manager at the National Gallery of Canada
  • Abbie Dann, President of the Canadian Ambassadors Alumni Association (AMBCANADA)
  • Michel Desloges, retired Canadian diplomat and representative of families of the fallen
  • Dr. Susan Fitzgerald, Architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at Dalhousie University
  • Dr. Karen Wilson Baptist, Acting Dean and Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Manitoba

The artwork will be built at 111 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, on the grounds of an office building occupied by Global Affairs Canada. The site is on Green Island, at the point where the Rideau River joins the Ottawa River.

The Global Affairs Canada Commemorative Artwork will honour Canadian public servants who have died or been seriously injured while supporting Canada’s diplomatic missions abroad. It will also recognize the dedication and sacrifices made by these individuals and their families in their service to Canada.

Quotes

“Expressing gratitude to public servants who have lost their lives or have been seriously injured in their service to Canada abroad is of capital importance. I would like to thank all the teams who responded to the Request for Qualifications for the Global Affairs Commemorative Artwork project. I look forward to seeing the designs the four finalist teams will create for this meaningful tribute to those who have sacrificed so much in their service to Canada.”

—The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs

“Our design community has once again risen to the call to design a meaningful commemoration for Canadians. We appreciate all the teams that came forward and congratulate the four finalists who will present proposals to create a lasting tribute to those who have lost their lives or have been forever changed by serving abroad. The Commemorative Artwork will offer a publicly accessible place of reflection and remembrance not only for families and friends of those who were affected, but for all Canadians.”

—The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage

Quick facts

  • Stakeholders, including the families of those who lost their lives or were injured while serving abroad and employees from Global Affairs Canada, as well as the public, will be invited to view and provide feedback on the finalists' design concepts before the jury selects the winning design.

  • The project is scheduled to be completed in 2024.

Associated links

Contacts

For more information (media only), please contact:

Syrine Khoury
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Syrine.Khoury@international.gc.ca

Media Relations
Global Affairs Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca

Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaFP

Like us on Facebook: Canada’s foreign policy - Global Affairs Canada

Camille Gagné-Raynauld
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
camille.gagne@canada.ca

Media Relations
Canadian Heritage
819-994-9101
1-866-569-6155
pch.media-media.pch@canada.ca

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