{"id":7473,"date":"2017-10-02T14:15:22","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T18:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=7473"},"modified":"2025-10-17T17:50:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T21:50:29","slug":"gather-ring","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/gather-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"Gather-Ring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Gather-Ring\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

When Manuel B\u00e1ez<\/a> first visited the small stone-covered plaza on the Ottawa side of the Portage Bridge that links the capital to Gatineau, the Carleton Architecture professor was struck by the panoramic view of the Ottawa River, Victoria Island, the parliamentary precinct, the curves of the Douglas Cardinal-designed Museum of History, and the Confederation Loop trail that connects the waterfronts of the two cities.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cMy god, what a spot,\u201d he thought. \u201cIn a way, this place is Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

B\u00e1ez was at the base of the bridge to refine the concept he planned to submit to the Department of Canadian Heritage\u2019s Art in the Capital<\/a> competition, which called for an artwork with a \u201cdream\u201d theme to be displayed at the site for a year as part of the country\u2019s sesquicentennial celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton Architecture Prof. Manuel B\u00e1ez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His idea, \u201cThe Gather-Ring,\u201d a breathtakingly beautiful wood, metal and glass installation that was erected in late August, was inspired by a pair of iconic symbols deeply rooted in Indigenous culture: the tree and the dream catcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With benches made from eastern white pine logs recovered from the Ottawa River and Douglas fir columns from British Columbia, built in collaboration with glass artist Charlynne Lafontaine<\/a> and a multicultural crew of Architecture students, and welcomed onto unceded Algonquin territory by members of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation<\/a>, \u201cThe Gather-Ring\u201d makes a powerful statement about historical perspective, cross-cultural connections and the circles and cycles of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an offering to the entire community,\u201d says B\u00e1ez, an artist, designer and architect licensed in New York whose work is heavily influenced by natural systems and processes, an ethos that resonates with Indigenous worldviews.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhen you sit on one of the benches, you\u2019re being asked, in a way, to think about what was here before 1867. It\u2019s a place to get together and talk and reflect on the past \u2014 and on the present and future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cCanada 150 is the perfect time to celebrate our country\u2019s extraordinary artists and creators,\u201d Canadian Heritage Minister M\u00e9lanie Joly said in a news release<\/a> after the artwork was finished in late summer. \u201cAs we celebrate this exciting milestone, public art exhibits like these provide visitors of all ages with an opportunity to discover these beautiful pieces and open their eyes to new ideas and perspectives. I invite local residents and visitors to come and experience this remarkable work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Like Throwing Pebbles into a Pond<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before the Art in the Capital program was announced, B\u00e1ez was already thinking about gathering circles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, his ceiling installation \u201cLight Keeper,\u201d<\/a> created in consultation with Cardinal and Carleton students, was unveiled at Carleton\u2019s Ojigkwanong Centre<\/a>, a home away from home for Indigenous students that was designed by Cardinal. That eventually led to a partnership with the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada\u2019s Indigenous Task Force<\/a> and Ottawa\u2019s Gignul Non-Profit Housing Corporation<\/a> to create, through a summer studio course, places for people to gather in the backyards of a pair of the non-profit\u2019s properties in Vanier.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Although those projects will come to fruition next summer \u2014 \u201cthe gathering circles are spreading,\u201d says B\u00e1ez, \u201clike throwing pebbles into a pond\u201d \u2014 the Portage Bridge installation has been his main focus over the last few months.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The interactive public artwork is built atop a circular red cedar base with a 20-foot diameter; students from B\u00e1ez\u2019s summer studio course burned marks onto the boards to simulate tree rings. A polished black Canadian granite circle in the middle of the base is etched with the 13-segment pattern of a turtle shell, a reference to Turtle Island, the name that some First Nations, including the Algonquin, have for North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A polished black Canadian granite circle in the middle of the base is etched with the 13-segment pattern of a turtle shell, a reference to Turtle Island.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Four ten-and-a-half-foot-tall Douglas fir columns, referencing the four cardinal directions and 1867\u2019s four founding provinces, rise from the cedar and support four laminated canoe- or longboat-shaped beams. These beams in turn support the dream catcher\u2019s cylindrical metal outer ring. (The generous support of Tim Priddle from Manotick\u2019s The WoodSource<\/a> made the project possible, says B\u00e1ez).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A woven galvanized chain link web hangs from the metal ring, and 598 glass pendants hand-blown by Lafontaine dangle from the web. These glass pieces catch the light in different ways as the sun rises and falls and as the seasons change, and at night they are illuminated from beneath by LED strip lights, whose colours and sequences will be programmed by Carleton engineering students as part of a collaboration led by Discovery Centre<\/a> Director Alan Steele and Department of Systems and Computer Engineering Instructor, Cheryl Schramm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe always talk about multidisciplinary work,\u201d says Schramm. \u201cIt\u2019s such a thrill to be doing this. This is the type of project I want my students to experience. It\u2019s public, it\u2019s creative and it brings an element of Indigenous culture to an engineering class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProfessional engineers are servants of the public,\u201d she adds, \u201cand this provides a way to talk about Indigenous issues and reconciliation with our students. It feels very real.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

New symbols of reconciliation – a birchbark canoe and works of Indigenous art – were formally unveiled at Carleton's Ojigkwanong Centre & MacOdrum Library in Sept. 2017.<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Gather-Ring: Bringing Texture and Life to a Concrete City<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Verna McGregor, a cultural helper from Kitigan Zibi, first saw The Gather-Ring when B\u00e1ez was assembling it in a studio at Ottawa\u2019s Makerspace North<\/a> in early summer. She liked the dream catcher and tree symbolism, as well as the turtle and four cardinal directions. But her appreciation soared when she saw the finished artwork beside the Portage Bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt really captures your eye and is in a prominent location,\u201d says McGregor. \u201cAlso, that area is mostly concrete, and then you see the colour and texture of the wood, which brings some life to a pretty grey place.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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The stone-covered plaza on the Ottawa side of the Portage Bridge where The Gathe-Ring is installed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Claudette Commanda, an Algonquin knowledge keeper from Kitigan Zibi who consulted with B\u00e1ez alongside McGregor, first saw the artwork, she felt a \u201cprofound and overwhelming sense of peaceful energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting on one of the benches and looking up at the dream catcher will give people a moment of solace, says Commanda, and a chance to reflect or meditate \u2014 \u201cor just to sit and be at peace with oneself and with nature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like McGregor, Commanda believes the artwork is in a perfect location. Its exposure to streams of pedestrian, cyclist and vehicular traffic is an opportunity to raise awareness and educate passersby about Ottawa being on unceded Algonquin land.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A cab driver who was taking her across the river to Gatineau recently pointed out The Gathe-Ring and said, \u201cIt should stay there forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Gather-Ring also provides an opportunity for people to come together for conversation and conflict resolution, says McGregor. \u201cWhen you\u2019re sitting on one of the benches and look up, you see the spider web of the dream catcher, and the message is that we\u2019re all connected to one another, whether we like it or not \u2014 and we\u2019re all connected to the universe too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That latter idea, our essential relationship with the natural world, is crucial to McGregor. \u201cThere needs to be an awakening,\u201d she says. \u201cWe need more dialogue to help us bridge issues of racism and violence so that all people from all nations can reconcile and work together to deal with climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Connections Between Cultures<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Connections between cultures have always interested B\u00e1ez, who was born in an ethnically mixed family in the Dominican Republic, moved to New York City as a child and came to Canada when he joined Carleton in 2001. \u201cThis is what motivates my work,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B\u00e1ez\u2019s birch plywood ceiling installation \u201cResonant Currents\u201d<\/a> at the co-working space HUB Ottawa\u2019s former location included elements of Indigenous art, Arabic calligraphy and Celtic imagery. Ultimately, it embodied Canada\u2019s cultural mosaic \u2014 as do the Carleton students who helped him create both it and \u201cThe Gather-Ring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under a blazing sun on a hot August afternoon, Sami Karimi (who is from Afghanistan), Guillermo Bourget Morales (who is from Mexico) and Josh Eckert (a multi-generational Canadian) were hanging glass pieces from the dream catcher\u2019s web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton Architecture Prof. Manuel B\u00e1ez helps fasten 598 glass pendants from a woven galvanized chain link web.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExperiential learning is different than learning from lectures,\u201d said Karimi. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to learn by doing, and it allows us to make observations and reflections throughout the process. This project was also a great opportunity for me to work with Indigenous communities and learn about their culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re gaining transferrable real-world skills,\u201d said Bourget Morales.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThis project allowed us to work on a much larger scale than the models we usually work on at school. It was an amazing summer, a great experience working with the team and helping to transform Manuel\u2019s idea into reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to see it finished and lit up at night,\u201d said Karimi. \u201cI can\u2019t wait to see how people react.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gather-Ring would not have been possible without contributions from students who were part of the Gathering Circles summer studio: Sally El Sayed, Sophie Ganan Gavela, Argel Javier, Cheshta Lalit, Lesley Li, Danica Mitric, Sepideh Rajabzadeh, Raumporn Ridthiprasart, Catherine Sole, Tharmina Srikantharajah and Wendy Yuan.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional contributions from: Hamid Aghashahi, Erin Allen, Jonathan Caron, Andrew Cornthwaite, Rafael Fantacci, Sara Farokhi, Frangiscos Hinoporos, Eingy Hussein, Michael Jaimeson, Gregorious Erico Kwa, Cole Peters, Ramon Renderos, Robert Shaheen, Antoinette Tang, Oliver Tang, Yoyo Cheuk Tang and Laura Yongmin Ye.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Manuel B\u00e1ez first visited the small stone-covered plaza on the Ottawa side of the Portage Bridge that links the capital to Gatineau, the Carleton Architecture professor was struck by the panoramic view of the Ottawa River, Victoria Island, the parliamentary precinct, the curves of the Douglas Cardinal-designed Museum of History, and the Confederation Loop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28,13],"cu_story_tag":[1918,1927],"class_list":["post-7473","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_type-research-discovery","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-engineering-and-design","cu_story_tag-indigenous"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/7473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/7473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97648,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/7473\/revisions\/97648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=7473"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=7473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}