FRAMING THE GORE
Heart of the City: Hamilton artists celebrate our most famous park
It’s known for celebration, controversy over heritage preservation, pedestrianization and even deforestation.
And, of course there was the day in January 1954 when more than a hundred hunters descended on Gore Park, bent on starling and pigeon elimination.
But in a small coffee shop/gallery, near the corner of King and John, the focus more recently has been on artistic inspiration. It’s called “Heart of the City — Hamilton Artists Celebrate the Gore,” an art exhibit that features 34 works about Hamilton’s most iconic park. The show, which concludes Saturday, is one of numerous local events sponsored by the Canada 150 Hamilton 2017 fund.
“The Gore was really the beginning of Hamilton and there are a lot of heritage, historic buildings around it,” says Carol Priamo, the curator of the display. “The park is really the heart of the city and we thought it would be a great topic for an art show.
“We wanted to promote how historic and beautiful it is.”
The exhibit uses painting, collage, photography, printmaking, drawing and there is even one bird’s eye view of the park in the form of a quilt. The accent is on heritage, which isn’t too surprising because the exhibit was supported by Friends of the Gore, a heritage advocacy group that had strongly opposed contentious demolition plans for 18-28 King St. E. Many buildings are highlighted, including the ones being redeveloped by Hughson Business Space Corporation. Most of the works are realistic, but there are also highly impressionistic renderings such as Dana Cowie’s painting of Mills Hardware from a time when the business sold screwdrivers and nails.
Most striking is a Mike Kukucska early-morning panorama of the Gore Park fountain.
“I’ve wanted to photograph Gore Park for some time and this exhibit was my perfect excuse. The fountain is the anchor to the park and I wanted to photograph it in all its glory with no distraction. With Venus rising in the East, I knew the sun was on its way and my night sky was soon coming to an end and the city would soon be wide-awake,” he says.