This summer's Streets Alive project will honour the legacy of the late Gordon Lightfoot. Orillia's favourite son and one of the world's top singer/songwriters died on May 1.
This year's project is titled “A Painter Passing Through,” paying homage to Lightfoot’s 1998 song of the same title.
Streets Alive founder Leslie Fournier says 60 guitars made from coroplast and wood will be painted by local artists and then attached to downtown street poles.
“They will have an incredible visual impact,” says founder Leslie Fournier. “This is the right time to honour Gordon’s legacy.”
Fournier says Lightfoot’s impact on Canada as an artist and musician is inspiring.
“His music has reached so far and through so many generations,” she said. “His body of work is astounding with the over 400 songs that he wrote.”
Through Streets Alive and other initiatives, Fournier says Lightfoot’s legacy will be on full display in downtown Orillia this summer.
“We will be putting out sculptures that feature Lightfoot from previous projects,” she said. “Several of the maples, the hippie vans, and the large guitars already had Gordon Lightfoot art on them, so we will bring those back out.”
Fournier says folks can expect to start seeing the pieces on downtown streets in late June. They will remain up until after Thanksgiving weekend.
“It’s a summer-long project,” she said. “We are hoping this project will invite and entice visitors to come to Orillia to see what the street looks like.”
For those who would like to paint a guitar, they will soon be available at Jack and Maddy’s at 143 Mississaga St. E. The materials for this year’s project were donated by former Mayor Steve Clarke and The Northern Joinery.
In the fall, each piece will be made available for sale. Money raised will go back into Street’s Alive for the next project. Starting in 2009, Streets Alive has been a celebration of "the joy that local artwork brings to a community," Fournier says.
“It continues the cycle for being able to do public art,” she said.
