Public Artwork

The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home

Leah Decter, The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home, 2008. ©
Leah Decter, The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home, 2008. © Marc André Brou
Leah Decter, The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home, 2008. © Marc André Brou
Leah Decter, The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home, 2008
Leah Decter, The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home, 2008. © Marc André Brou
Leah Decter, The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home, 2008
Leah Decter, The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home, 2008
Location:
Furby Park , Furby Street, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Artwork creator(s): 
Decter, Leah
Text author(s): 
The Community
Collaborator(s): 
Spence Neighbourhood Association (SNA), Image and Greening Committee of SNA
Installation year: 
2008
Remarks on location: 

Between Ellice and Sargent; north of Ellice; near the entrance to the park and inset into the main pathway

Description: 

The entire piece is composed of radiating circles. The inner circle of the compass consists of a planter component, which was devised by talking to Elders, botanists and local community members to select plants that reflected the pre-contact history of the neighbourhood. The middle circle is composed of a tile mosaic that represents stories derived from local children's drawings of their sense of community. An English version of the First Nations Seven Sacred Teachings surrounds the entire compass.

Text of the artwork: 

[random order]

wisdom

love

respect

bravery

honesty

humility

truth

Text theme: 
The Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers (also known as the Seven Teachings or the Seven Grandfathers) of the Anishinaabe people.
Artwork theme: 

Celebrating the history and stories of the Spence neighborhood

Note(s): 

Program: WITH ART Project; created as part of the Winnipeg Arts Council's Public Art Program - WITH ART

Propriétaire(s): 
City of Winnipeg
Document(s): 

Winnipeg With Art

Reid, Mary (2009).  Winnipeg With Art. Espace . no. 88 (Summer) , p. 20-23

The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home

Winnipeg_Arts_Council (2009).  The Spence Community Compass: Finding Home. <http://www.winnipegarts.ca/index.php?/wac/artwork-article/148/> : Winnipeg Arts Council - Public Art