Parks, Recreation and Culture Winter 2025 Activity Guide

Register online at recreation.nanaimo.ca General Inquiries 250-756-5200 82 *NEW* TEMPORARY PUBLIC ART École Pauline Haarer Student Exhibition at Nanaimo Aquatic Centre Jesse Gray’s Chimes for the South End This past summer, the City of Nanaimo unveiled local artist, Jesse Gray’s temporary art project, Chimes for the South End in Deverill Square Gyro 2 Park. It will remain accessible until 2027. A touch-activated sound sculpture, Chimes for the South End evokes a patch of tall plants clustered together and engages with the existing soundscape of the neighbourhood. The bronze forms on the top of the sculpture were cast from plastic trash collected in the south end. To make these bronze bells touch and chime together, gently push the bottom of the steel “stems’” Chimes for the South End will ring out into the evolving sound landscape of the south end community for the next five years. Amber Morrison Fox &Matthew Fox’s Moon Snail House The City of Nanaimo invites the public to experience Moon Snail House , a newly installed temporary public art project by local artists, Amber Morrison and Matthew Fox. Located on the bluff in Pipers Lagoon Park, Moon Snail House is inspired by the shell of a Lewis’s moon snail - one of the largest marine mollusks found in our local intertidal areas. This large-scale artwork invites visitors to become active participants, allowing them to enter the sculpture to experience the environment from a new perspective. The two artists aim to evoke topics of housing, encouraging reflection on who has the opportunity to live by the sea and access it. As the moon snail naturally grows its shell—a house-like structure—it prompts us to ask: What essential lessons can we learn about housing from this creature? WHERE DOES ART COME FROM? Have you noticed artwork appearing on utility and traffic cabinets around the City and wondered where the artwork comes from and who is responsible? These art wraps represent original artwork created by artists on the City’s Urban Design Roster, and are commissioned in a collaborative effort between the City’s Culture team and the Public Works team. Utility and traffic cabinets are a visible part of communities across the City. They offer a canvas to celebrate the City and its neighborhoods through public art providing a sense of place and fostering community pride. Culture & Events Artwork by Sebastion Abboud Artwork by Patrick Belanger