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South Nanaimo neighborhood to be consulted about Deverill Square chimes

New musical chimes will be up in Deverill Square, possibly by the end of the coming year.

South-end artist and teacher, Jesse Gray, says she will be consulting the neighborhood about the chimes before they get made.

“All of the details will be based on consultation with the community. Collaborating maybe with neighbors, and you know, getting feedback and all that stuff. I don’t make any decisions for the community, especially when it comes to a sculpture that’ll be there for five years and also makes noise.”

She says she’ll be attending the Neighborhood Association’s meetings to get some information on what residents would like to see— and hear— from the sculpture.

“I want to be sensitive to the needs of the neighborhood,” said Gray, “and part of why I am interested in doing something that has a musical sound element to it is because it is something that can be experienced by everyone. At the same time you want to make sure that experiences are mostly positive, right? You don’t wanna impose a soundscape on people that’s unpleasant.”

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A bronze necklace done by Jesse Gray, made by casting recyclable plastic.

The sculpture itself will be cast out of bronze, with a point of using recycled materials. Gray says it’s one of the biggest projects she’s worked on thus far. 

“I’ve never made something this big before. Most of my stuff is jewelry size,” Gray notes that the usual maximum she’s casted is 9 inches tall and 4 inches wide. “This will be a new process for me— working out the scale— so I may have to work with different fabricators, work with engineers from the city, so I anticipate the fabrication will probably take the longest but won’t be finished until kind of the end.”

At the moment, the sculpture is planned to be multiple long sticks, inspired by Harry Bertoia’s ’Sonambiant’ sculptures. However, it is subject to change and may or may not reflect the final product.

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