Donald Teuma-Castelletti
LUSKVILLE Oct. 7, 2017
The seventh and final sculpture in a series depicting the history of the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais was unveiled in Luskville Saturday afternoon, rounding out the project.
Located in front of the Luskville Community Centre, the sculpture was commissioned to show an aspect of the history of the community, with a connection to the local water.
“We’re very proud to present this work of art today, as a part of the MRC Collines art route,” said Meghan Lewis, recreation and community life coordinator for the Municipality of Pontiac. “This is lucky number seven, the last one to be unveiled.”
The piece is in the form of an obelisk, with each side depicting a different slice of life in the cultural history of the Municipality of Pontiac. Titled “Crossroads,” the sides lie according to the cardinal points on a compass.
“When I saw that [the theme] was a crossroads, from an architectural perspective, I immediately thought of an obelisk, because they represent a crossroads,” said John-Philippe Smith, the sculptor.
The north side shows a roaring waterfall, splashing down, meant to depict the Eardley escarpment and Luskville Falls. The east has an Indigenous man rowing a river, paying tribute to the culture’s reliance on water for their lifestyle. The southern portion featured a man taking a scythe to a field of wheat, representing the arrival of the Europeans and their farming practices. Finally, the west side had a man rolling logs down a river, highlighting the importance of forests to the municipality.
The depictions were done in the style of relief carvings, where the image is fairly two-dimensional, coming out only slightly from the statue. Smith said he employed repeating patterns and blockier images, creating the unique pictures that appear on each side.
“The block itself is Indiana limestone, which I use a lot and is the same stone as the Château Laurier,” said Smith. “The base is Saint Marc Limestone, from outside of Quebec City.”
Smith was chosen from a pool of eight proposals, once they were being accepted in summer 2016. He’s a professional carver, with a wealth of accolades under his belt, including first place at the European Stone Festival in 2015.
The statue was commissioned as part of the heritage art route throughout the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais.
