Sudbury’s water towers are in danger of being demolished in the spring of 2010. [Update: The Pearl Street tower will be destroyed in April 2010 unless it is declared a heritage building and preserved by the city, or a group of investors buy the tower to preserve it and develop it]
As recognizable landmarks of Sudbury, Ontario, they are reminders of a bygone era in Sudbury’s history. Built in 1956 the towers were used until 1998 when they were decommissioned. Standing tall and overlooking the city, the towers turn an otherwise regular cityscape into an interesting panorama.
We want to preserve the towers and allow them to remain in downtown Sudbury as symbols of the city.
This is where we need your help.
We encourage all artists in Sudbury or from Sudbury and lovers of water towers from around the world to submit their artwork to be displayed on this website to raise awareness and show the City of Greater Sudbury that we want the towers to remain standing.
All types of artistic entries are welcome. Painting, Illustration, Photography, Animation, Sculpture, Video, Collage, etc…
No level of expertise is required. If you love the towers we’d love to see your vision of them (or one of them).
The ultimate goal of this project is to come together to support the preservation of the towers. We are currently looking into venues to hold a gallery show of the work submitted, for those interested in participating in an exhibition.
As the towers are slated for demolition in the Spring of 2010, we need to act quickly. We are looking into holding an exhibition of the work collected in April, 2010.
Thank you for your interest. Please encourage your friends to participate. We look forward to seeing your submissions!
————–
Submission Requirements:
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR ARTWORK BY APRIL 14th TO BE INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBITION.
Please submit your artwork at 72 dpi (scanned or photographed)
Maximum width: 800 pixels
Maximum height: 800 pixels
Include: Name, website/blog
You may also include: Why you love the towers, explanation of artwork, additional information
————-
Submission requirements for the ART EXHIBITION:
Your Artwork: If you took a photograph or created a digital image, please make a print of your image in any size (preferably no larger than 18” x 24”). It would be best for viewing at the show if you could create a print larger than 5×7 inches. Work does not need to be framed. We will hang work whether it is framed or unframed.
We’re going to make small cards to place on the wall next to your artwork with your information on them. For these cards, please provide us with: Your Name, Artwork title, Medium, Price (if for sale), website (if applicable).
Drop Off: Unfortunately we cannot personally come to collect all of the artwork for the show. Please drop off your artwork at 1287 Cawthorpe Street by April 14th (Map). If you do not live in Sudbury and would like to participate in the show (and we would love to have your work on display) you can mail your prints to 1287 Cawthorpe Street, Sudbury, Ontario, P3G 1C1. Mail your work by April 9th to ensure it arrives on time.
If dropping work off, it is not necessary to call first. However if you’d like to call, call 523-4397 to set up a drop off time.
Printing Service: For those of you who cannot drop off prints by the specified date or for you out-of-towners, we will make high quality prints for you (printed on heavy photo paper). Prints will be approximately 8”x10” and cost $8 each. Please provide us with a high resolution image, 300 dpi. Payment is accepted through PayPal only.
Cheese Platter: One of the requirements for having the show at the Fromagerie Elgin is to order $100 in cheese to serve the guests of the show. You can eat the cheese, too! To participate in the show, please donate $5-10 to go towards this expense. This is in addition to the printing service fee if you use it.
Commission: The Fromagerie takes a very reasonable 10% commission from any artwork that is sold.
Pick Up: The show is coming down on April 29th. If your artwork doesn’t sell you can pick it up from the Fromagerie in the afternoon of April 29th, or from the same location the work was dropped off after April 29th. If you cannot pick up the artwork we can ship it to you (shipping costs incurred).
————–
This project is only as successful as we make it. If you have any suggestions on venues for an exhibition or how to spread the word to other artists, please contact us.
————–
Who Are We?
Joel Kimmel is an illustrator based in Sudbury, Ontario. Originally from Ottawa, he became fascinated with water towers on a trip to New York in 2005. He loved them so much that he moved to Brooklyn and roamed the streets beneath the towers for two years.
In 2009 he moved to Sudbury where he immediately chose the water towers as his favorite landmarks.
He loves water towers and hopes to help save the two landmark tanks in Sudbury’s downtown.
You can help!
hi joel,
can we still save even ONE of them? whats the latest?
do you have any ideas for a last minute solution? a consortium of investors perhaps to buy one of the water towers? (i’d pitch in a few thousand for sure)
mark /
cosmic dave’s
Hi Mark,
The owner of the Pearl Street tower is willing to sell it for $150,000, either back to the city or private investors.
We’re hoping we can save at least one of them. Maybe let the Pine Street tower go and encourage the city to buy the Pearl Street tower back with the money made from the sale of scrap metal.
We’d love to encourage the city to buy back the Pearl Street tower and still keep the Pine Street tower. However, it seems the Pine Street tower is doomed, so we may need to concentrate on getting back the Pearl Street tower and just save the one.
why don’t you get people to make posters and hand them out downtown while they walk around the city and talk to people to add awareness ?
Moved to Sudbury not too long ago, don’t know much about the city but the towers are a significant landmark. As a history student at Laurentian I see them as an important ingenering/architectural part of Sudbury. Especially now since this kind of structures become a rare site in our provincial/national landscape.
I support the efforts to preserve the towers so please keep me informed and I will help out where I can fit in. W.S.
I agree about the Pine st tower coming down it is quite an eyesore and really does not look like it would last much longer. But Pearl st I do not agree taking it down, it really is a land mark in Sudbury and would not be the same once gone.
I trully wish Sudburians stop thinking they need to have to be tearing down or burying its past this has got to stop. We have already lost so much of our historical landmarks, buildings and much more. Sudburians need to take pride in our history and not continue with this self deprication attitude about it
A proverb is not a proverb to you until life has illustrated it.
The Pearl Street water tower was featured in a full-page ad by Porter Airlines in the Toronto Star advertising their new daily service to Sudbury. This just shows how much of a landmark and symbol this tower is of Sudbury. At the very least the Pearl Street tower must be saved, and hopefully used for something else.