The Spirit Catcher has spread its wings over Kempenfeldt Bay in Barrie for over 20 years. It was originally created for Expo86 in Vancouver by Ron Baird and was later purchased and donated for the Barrie Gallery Project as an inspiration for the creation of an art gallery.
Inspired by West Coast First Nations mythology, the Thunderbird is a powerful spirit in the form of a bird that carries our messages, dreams and desires to the Creator. The 20 tonne sculpture is 65' high and has 16 kinetic quills in the wings that rock back and forth as the wind blows.
The Double-crested Cormorant is a large fish-eating bird found throughout the Great Lakes that has undergone dramatic changes in population over the last three decades. The cormorant disappeared as a nesting bird on Lakes Michigan and Superior and only about ten pairs remained on Lake Ontario by the 1950s. From the early 1970s however, the cormorant population has increased over 500-fold. The cormorant is now more numerous on the Great Lakes than at any time in its previously recorded history.
for more things with wings see SundayStills
cool info on these pictures. I love to hear about them!
ReplyDeletethe spirit catcher is very interesting :)
ReplyDeletep.s thankyou for your best wishes x
Very interesting spirit catcher...we have alot of cormorants around SW Florida. BTW, thank you for your visit to my blog.
ReplyDeleteNice shot. That is actually a piece of art I understand.
ReplyDeleteGood information on both the birds. A very nice shot of the sculpture and you can see how huge it is and very impressive. Glad to hear that the cormorant has made such a good come back. It's always nice to hear such success stories. We have similar stories like it over here.
ReplyDeleteVery cool shots..:-)
ReplyDeletebeautiful shots!!
ReplyDeletevery nice I love the sculptures!
ReplyDeleteOH!! I almost put an addition to what "wings" we may see today.Someone also mentioned a plane too....
ReplyDeleteLovely image, that thunderbird..and the wings do vibrate to and fro also..very cool!
Thanks for stoppin' in by my plce today!
KacyK
That's really cool and your color is so vibrant!
ReplyDeleteInteresting sculpture.
ReplyDeleteReally great pictures and an interesting post! Brilliant.
ReplyDeleteNice photo of the Spirit Catcher. For a year I lived up at Wasaga Beach and used to see this guy every once in a while on my travels. Nice to have some background
ReplyDeleteExcellent choices...I love that Spirit Catcher! Wow!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my Journal.
As usual, great pictures. I love the spirt catcher! Wow.
ReplyDeleteAnd the cormorant, 'cause they seriously rock.
Beautiful photo of the spirit catcher!
ReplyDeletethis was a very cool post! informative and well thought-out.
ReplyDeletethank you for the pix as well. :-)
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.ero
Great info to go with wonderful photos! The places I want to visit is ever-increasing with my blog travel.
ReplyDeleteI like both the metallic and th elives birds. I love to see shore birds sunning their wings.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at the Spirit catcher... It's so awesome! If you haven't guessed I live in the middle of no where... :) well done!
ReplyDeleteI liked your idea of the spirit with wings. A nice angle. Lovely shots all of them.
ReplyDeleteNice pictures. That's one impressive statue!
ReplyDeleteHi Violet
ReplyDeleteI loved the way the sculpture can move in the breeze to show that it really is acting as an intermediary.
We have a smaller pied cormorant - black with white front, in the trees opposite, hundreds leave early each morning and return late afternoon and have been here for 25 years and more... I don't know where they breed cos they don't have nests.
Happy days
Wow, what a cool sculpture, and nice selection of shots! I wish Texas had more art in public spaces.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your visit and comments.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved this sculpture (art you can undrestand, yes!). And I wish we had more public art, too.
Love the spirit catcher and the cormorant is cool too!
ReplyDeleteI love that sculpture...especially the kinetic part!...you were wise to relate it with the cormorant...its stance certainly mimics it...beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI took the photo of the SpiritCatcher on a day trip to Barrie and stopped off to check on the goslings near home and laughed when I saw the cormorant - I knew I had my perfect combination shot for SundayStills!
ReplyDeleteInteresting to see the sculpture and the cormorant together with wings extended. Thanks for visiting me on Haliburton Hill. I'll be back to see more of your photos.
ReplyDeleteCool shots! Love the spirit catcher.
ReplyDelete