Seeds to Sow Art Exhibition
The City of Barrie, with support from the Barrie Public Art Committee (BPAC), embarked on a temporary public art exhibition from September 27 to November 8, 2024. Seeds to Sow featured six installations of site-specific artwork that transformed Barrie’s landscape and complemented the already rich public art scene featured throughout the downtown and other neighbourhoods.
The name Seeds to Sow originated from the act of planting a seed as a powerful symbol of hope and potential. It connects to ongoing cycles of seasonality, an inheritance from the past and an intention for the future. The exhibition aimed to revitalize Barrie’s public spaces, spark meaningful conversations and promote cultural awareness. The goal was to help elevate Barrie, contributing to talent attraction and retention, and economic buoyancy, and cultivate a strong community in support of the arts.
Seeds to Sow was Barrie’s first large-scale temporary public art exhibition. It was organized and designed to appeal to local residents and draw visitors. Contemporary artists were invited to create works of art specifically for Barrie, responding to local ecologies, history, and stories. Artwork types included sculpture, textile art, text-based art, sound and new media art, and mural art. Local audiences were offered an opportunity to consider new perspectives on places and stories they thought they already knew. Visitors enjoyed a rare opportunity to experience an array of visual art in our city’s public spaces.
The City offered private guided tours to sponsors, city staff, and in response to public requests. We also engaged local schools and gave guided tours on request. Our local artist-run centre, Spare Room, partnered on programming and hosted panel discussions featuring the curator and participating artists. There were also parallel programs for families, hosted by the MacLaren Art Centre and Simcoe Contemporary Dancers. These engagement opportunities reached broad audiences and were attended by locals and tourists.
One challenge faced was some vandalism, which was expected given the artworks were in public spaces, but we were not prepared for the speed and rate at which it occurred. As a result, staff quickly arranged overnight security for the remainder of the exhibition. In future, this expense will be built into the budget.
Through a partnership with Tourism Barrie, Environics Analytics Mobilescapes and geofencing technology was used to track exposure.
- Total number of unique visitors: 53,972
- 78% were residents living within 1-40 km of Barrie and 22% were visiting from 40+km away (tourists)
- Total Economic Impact: approximately$1,359,949
Seeds to Sow demonstrated how arts can bring a community together and benefit local economies. It exposed resident and visitors to new cultural experiences while also driving them to local businesses. Seeds to Sow was organized and executed with a limited budget and staff resourcing, but opened on time and met the expectations of all stakeholders. Artists were paid, and the community and tourists were engaged. The exhibition was an introduction to what is possible for public art in Barrie and encouraged the local arts community to see future potential.
Website: https://www.barrie.ca/community-recreation-environment/arts-culture/public-art/seeds-sow-exhibition
Seeds to Sow Video: https://youtu.be/bo5OA0t5Qvo
