An art installation by Sudburian Ray Laporte will be featured at Laurentian University's new downtown architecture school building, which is expected to open next month.
The installation at the McEwen School of Architecture, as the school is now known after a recent $10 million donation from the McEwen family, will feature 300 of Laporte's rock bass.
He makes the fish he makes out of rocks and beads on a wire frame. The centrepiece of the architecture school installation will be a huge musky, which, as any Northern Ontario fisherman knows, can grow up to six feet long.
Laporte, a professional artist, said he got the idea for the rock bass 20 years ago, when he was driving cab to earn extra cash. “Going by the slag heap, it just dawns on me — rock bass,” he said.
He displayed his creations at a downtown store, and they sold like hotcakes. Laporte said he estimates he'd made 1,000 rock bass over of the years. They sell for about $20 to $100 each.
One of his faithful customers is Sudbury architect Dennis Castellan, who's on the architecture school's board of directors. Castellan has raised about $15,000 to pay Laporte for the art installation.
“It doesn't get any better in Sudbury, for an artist,” Laporte said, adding that he loves the idea of public art, because it's for everyone.
“Who would have thought that this would be my introduction into making a legacy for young people who are studying how to build, how to design?”
McEwen School of Architecture director Terrance Galvin said the art installation fits right in with the school's focus on all things Northern Ontario.
“I think rock bass, a big collection of them, will make a lot of sense to people from the north,” he said.
By the way, the new architecture school building on Elm Street is almost ready for occupancy — they're just working on commissioning the building and getting the proper permits.
Galvin said he expects Laurentian's 264 architecture students will be able to move into the building in September. A grand opening is in the works, but Galvin said he's not yet ready to announce a date.
