The Alderville First Nation Commemoration Project is a joint project of the Alderville First Nation and the City of Kingston that commemorates the historical and contemporary ties between this Nation and the Kingston region. The City and Alderville First Nation have been working together on this project since 2013.

The development of the project coincided with the launch of the first-ever Public Art Master Plan for the City of Kingston. It was decided that public art would provide the best way to commemorate the past, present and future of the Alderville First Nation and that this project could function as a space for the Alderville First Nation and the Kingston community to gather, teach and learn.

Project Award

A Jury that included three members of the Alderville First Nation along with three Indigenous artists has selected the work "Manidoo Ogitigan" ("Spirit Garden") by Terence Radford as the winning proposal for the Alderville First Nation Commemoration Project. This process was facilitated by the City in keeping with the Public Art Policy as approved.  

Art type: Permanent, Commemoration

Budget: $150,000

Location: Lake Ontario Park

Installation is expected to be complete by the fall of 2020. Due to the organic nature of the installation, it will continue to become more established over the next three to five years. 

Background  

Planning for this commemoration project first began after James Marsden, then-Chief of the Alderville First Nation, approached the City of Kingston with a request to form a partnership to develop an appropriate vehicle to commemorate the story of the Mississauga Nation in Kingston.  The Chief requested this commemoration should link the Mississauga Ojibway and members of the Anishinaabeg Nation with their long connections to the Kingston region, Bedford Township, Grape Island (Bay of Quinte) and Alnwick (Alderville) at Rice Lake.

Early on in this process, it was identified that a public art installation would be the preferred way to commemorate this relationship.  A series of meetings were held to scope the project and representatives from the Alderville First Nation then worked with City staff to select Lake Ontario Park as the location for this commemoration, which Council approved in 2017 (Report 17-061).

Artist Selection Process

The commissioning of the Alderville First Nation Commemoration Project involved a two-phase procurement including a Request for Information (RFI) that was issued in September 2017 and closed in December 2017 and a Request for Proposal (RFP) that was issued in April 2018 and closed in November 2018.

A Jury comprised of three members of the Alderville First Nation - John Mattson, Rick Beaver and Dave Mowat - and three Indigenous artists - Geraldine King, Susan Blight and Camille Usher - reviewed all submissions and shortlisted three artists to respond to the RFP. The Jury evaluated the three proposals based on artistic excellence and creativity of approach, compliance with the objectives and requirements, appropriateness to the site and community context, maintenance and conservation requirements, budget, timeline, technical feasibility and probability of success, experience on similar projects, including reference feedback, and Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, Ontario Reg. 429/7.

About Terence Radford

The Jury selected artist Terence Radford for the Alderville First Nation Commemoration Project. Radford is a practicing contemporary artist working in painting, sculpture, photography, and multimedia installation.  He is also a registered Landscape Architect and runs Trophic Design, an aboriginally owned and operated landscape and architectural practice in Cobourg, Ontario. Radford's Cree heritage and membership with the Metis Nation of British Columbia, as well as his work with the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, provided a basis for his studies in Cultural Landscape Theory and Indigenous Art History that also informs his work.

Artwork Proposal

"Manidoo Ogitigan" ("Spirit Garden") is a landscape installation developed through an ongoing engagement process with the Alderville First Nation. The work is intended to function as a symbolic reclamation and physical restoration of the land that explores how the shared experiences of colonization, along with attempts at cultural assimilation, have impacted the living culture of Alderville First Nation.

The artwork presents the history of select Wampum Belts, the symbolism of the medicine wheel and a selection of culturally significant food and medicinal plants in a formal layout based on the Alderville Methodist Church. The proposed installation creates an intimate gathering space for reflection, ceremony and teaching in the City of Kingston on the shore of Lake Ontario.

• View the site plan
• View the artwork rendering

Consultation with Alderville First Nation

Since the beginning, the process undertaken in support of this project has been grounded in a respectful and collaborative working relationship between the City of Kingston and Alderville First Nation and its aim to make the broader community more aware, through public art, of the diverse histories and narratives associated with Indigenous Peoples in this area. Public consultation with the Alderville First Nation community has been ongoing.