Public Artwork
Field of Winds
Location:
Waterloo Regional Airport, 1-4881 Fountain Street North, Breslau, ON, N0B 1M0, Canada
See map: Google Maps
Artwork creator(s):
Covit, Linda
Text author(s):
Covit, Linda
Installation year:
2003
Remarks on location:
Nine mobiles installed across the grassy area of the new airport terminal lawn. Aluminum light posts line the walkway to the terminal building.
Description:
The [seven] History Posts, a series of illuminated columns, line the walkway to the airport. Each is silk-screened with a photograph taken from archives, accompanied by a descriptive text. Walking through this narrative offers travellers a glimpse of some of the important milestones in the airport’s growth, from its beginnings in 1929 to 2003, with the new facility, Waterloo Regional Airport gracing the end of the path.
Text of the artwork:
1929
The Region of Waterloo Airport had its beginnings in 1929 as the K-W Airport. Its origin and location at Lexington Field was largely the work of local businessmen
Norman Schneider and Robert Dietrich.
1934
The K-W Airport was one of only four locations in Canada to be favoured by a visit of the British Hawker Fury fighters in 1934. Led by Wing Commander Pirie, the crowd of ten thousand was treated to an exhibition of formation flying for an admission price of ten cents.
1934
In the early years of aviation, many women were attracted by the excitement of flying. In 1934, twenty year old Mary M. Weber earned her private pilot’s license through the K-W Flying Club at the Lexington airfield. The club’s two training airplanes were the “Miss Kitchener” and the “Miss Waterloo”.
Kitchener-Waterloo
Record Photograph Collection
1949
Trade Minister C.D. Howe initiated work on the new Waterloo Wellington airfield in 1949. With Howe at the opening ceremony was one of the local airport founding members – Norman Schneider (at the right of the picture).
Kitchener-Waterloo Record Photograph Collection
1951
Garf’s Flying Service was roundly congratulated on their first scheduled air service flight in 1951 by founding airport pioneers Norman Schneider and Robert Dietrich. The early morning flights to Malton would allow passengers to connect to many national and international destinations from there.
Waterloo Historical Society Garf Schmidt Collection
1959
The Waterloo Wellington Flying Club held its first ever forty-eight hour flying marathon in 1959. The club kept one of its planes in the air at all times during the marathon.
Kitchener – Waterloo Record
Photograph Collection, University of Waterloo Library
1974
In 1969 and 1973, the control tower and airport terminal building, respectively, were added to the landscape. Extensions of 1500 feet and 1800 feet were made to runway 07/25 in 1984 and 2003, respectively. The terminal building was replaced in 2003 with the new facility at the end of this path which recognizes the Region of Waterloo’s commitment to progressive service provision for both citizens and visitors.
Personal Studio
Artwork theme:
History of the Waterloo Regional Airport, women in aviation in Canada Note(s):
"In researching the development of this airport, I was intrigued to learn about Mary Weber. At 20 years old, she learned to fly at what was then Lexington Field, and was the fifth woman in Canada to receive a pilot's licence. This 'discovery' initiated the History Posts, a series of illuminated columns along the walkway. Each is silk-screened with a photograph taken from archives, accompanied by a descriptive text. Walking through this narrative offers travelers a glimpse of some of the milestones important to the airport's growth, from its beginnings in 1929 to 2003 with the new facility, Waterloo Regional Airport gracing the end of the path. A grouping of mobiles extends across the grassy area in front of the airport terminal. Each comprises two branches of leaves poised above a slender pole. The branches turn slowly with the currents of air, embodying the poetics of wind and flight."
Conversation with artist
• Linda Covit was awarded the commission as the winner of a national competition.
Artist's biography:
Covit, Linda
Owner(s):
Regional Municipality of Waterloo Document(s):
Syndicate
