Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 5, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 CALL 204- 942- 2558 OR 1- 800- 818- 7779 TO ARRANGE YOUR COMPLIMENTARY IN- HOME CONSULTATION TODAY! June 1 - 30th, 2012 CUSTOM MADE DRAPERY SALE 40% OFF * CUSTOM DRAPERIES Choose from the Alendel collection of fabrics and save 40% off the fabric price. * Off our regular prices. 50% OFF * HUNTER DOUGLAS DESIGNER ROLLER SHADES Choose from sheer to room darkening fabrics in a wide array of colours and textures. * Off our regular prices. NO GST CUSTOM MADE ROMAN SHADES Place any new order for any Roman Shade and receive a discount equal to the GST. CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: PAUL SAMYN 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2012 B 1 T HE most expensive public art project in Winnipeg’s history asks an age- old question about whether a bottle is half- empty or half- full. Vancouver architect Bill Pechet is putting the finishing touches on emptyful , a 22,000- kilogram, stainlesssteel fountain that looms over Donald Street from its perch in the newly renovated plaza on the south side of downtown’s Millennium Library. When it’s fully functional later this month, the $ 575,000, beaker- shaped artwork will be illuminated by four bands of LED lights and will use both water and fog to make a statement about the abundance of space on the Canadian Prairies. “ The bottle is meant to be a symbolic container of emptiness. There’s a hole in the bottom of it,” the Edmonton- born, Vancouver- based Pechet said Monday in an interview. His Vancouver studio won a competition to create the public artwork as part of Winnipeg’s role as Canada’s cultural capital in 2010. Ottawa contributed $ 200,000, with the Winnipeg Arts Council covering the rest of the tab. “ I had grown up seeing pictures of Winnipeg but I had not really been here. When I got here, I was overwhelmed by the sense of space and the sky,” Pechet said. “ If one doesn’t look deep enough, you might perceive it as empty but there’s tons of creative energy within that space.” The design competition called for a large artwork along the Donald Street side of the Millennium Library property, Pechet explained. “ They wanted to create a strong edge to the plaza on the west side, because there are two ( parkade) car ramps on Donald Street. They wanted to have a strong physical and environmental presence,” he said. Pechet has created 12 different colour schemes to illuminate emptyful , whose stainless- steel frame has been blasted by glass beads to soften the edges and catch more light. During the summer, when the fog and water elements will be operational, the fountain will be illuminated in blue, green and purples hues. During the winter, when the water elements won’t be operational, the artwork will be lit up with reds, oranges and yellows. If all goes well, testing of the lights will begin tonight, Pechet said. The artwork is the most prominent feature in a Millennium Library plaza makeover that also includes a new wooden boardwalk and pools that simulate freshwater marshes. Though the plaza makeover is almost complete, city officials declined requests for interviews about the longdelayed reconstruction. “ The goal is to have it completed sometime this summer and an official opening will be held,” spokeswoman Michelle Bailey said in a statement. Pedestrians may access the plaza from both Smith Street and Donald Street. “ They’ve made it a lot more accessible,” said Tricia Wasney, public- art manager for the Winnipeg Arts Council. At $ 575,000, emptyful is the most ambitious piece of public art commissioned by the Winnipeg Arts Council since it assumed responsibility for the city’s outdoor artworks in 2004. “ It’s a very interesting, very complex project, because of the different components,” Wasney said. “ It’s based on the idea of a container. There’s a lot going on.” On Monday, passersby suggested the new artwork also resembles a harp, a bow or the Lululemon clothing logo. Public art tends to inspire debate, Wasney agreed. Prior to emptyful , the most expensive public artwork financed by the city was Catherine Widgery’s River Arch, which was placed on the Norwood Bridge in 1999, before WAC was responsible for the program. Other private and public entities have paid for more expensive public artworks. For example, The Cube, the futuristic stage designed by 5468796 Architecture, cost $ 1.2 million to erect at Old Market Square in 2010. bartley. kives@ freepress. mb. ca W E all have challenges. But this is the time of year when schools all over the province celebrate students whose biggest challenge would seem to be getting the highest marks in the class. It’s the most academically exceptional students who receive the awards for that. What about the “ others,” though? The ones who aren’t as gifted intellectually, but are just as exceptional in their own way? Where are the awards for them? Well, it turns out that kind of recognition does exist. A Manitoba student recently won an international award for being one of those other “ exceptional” students. Leonardo Navarrete functioned at below kindergarten levels five years ago when he entered École Powerview. He was 13 years old then and he’d never been to school. That wasn’t because he didn’t want to, but because of seemingly insurmountable cognitive and physical challenges. “ When he came to Canada it was his dream to come to school,” recalls Nancy Kovachik, who became his resource teacher at École Powerview. Leonardo, his mother, Angelica, and his younger brother, Moises, had moved to Canada from Mexico, which is where Angelica met Guy Lavoie, the man with whom they all now live. Actually, Leonardo never said it was his dream to go to school, but only because he couldn’t. At first, he had trouble saying anything because he didn’t know English and he had a pallet deformity that made speaking his native Spanish difficult. “ He was basically non- verbal,” Kovachik says. Understandably, given the situation, Leonardo had other challenges. “ He had great difficulty with behavioural and social skills and exhibited very little trust or self- confidence,” school counsellor Linda Clark says. Kovachik has her own memories of that time in 2008. “ We never thought that,” she begins, then pauses. “ Well, we didn’t know what he would ever be capable of. Certainly speaking is something we wished he’d be able to do, but we never really thought that would happen.” Gradually, he began to learn and speak English. Not that he’s fluent. “ He gestures and uses some of the English that he does know,” says Kovachik. “ We know him, so we know what he’s trying to say.” But Leonardo wanted to do more than learn to speak; he wanted to learn to read, and with the help of education aide Alice Papineau, he did it. Leonardo was 16 when he read his first book out loud. It was a picture storybook, the kind that typically has one or two sentences per page. His teachers were amazed. And they celebrated by making him a cake and decorating it with all the words from the book that he’d learned to read. Today, Leonardo is described as extremely outgoing, a character, who loves to sing, joke and entertain and even deliver donated milk and fruit each morning to each class. “ He’s 18 years old now,” Kovachik points out. “ But here’s a young man who’d never been able to go to school, who never had that opportunity, and had this real desire to be in school and to learn how to do things. Who’s just driven. Just determined to do whatever he could do.” It’s that determination that inspires the other students. “ How could it not rub off on other kids,” says Kovachik. Last year, it also inspired her to nominate him for an award from the Manitoba Council for Exceptional Children, a non- profit organization that recognizes the exceptional achievements of “ exceptional needs” student. They’re called the “ Yes I Can!” awards and Leonardo won the provincial award in 2011 for outstanding achievement in academics. Then, earlier this spring, he won the big one; the 2012 international “ Yes I Can!” award for outstanding achievement in academics. The award was presented in Denver by the Council for Exceptional Children, although visa problems prevented Leonardo from going there to accept it. But Kovachik was with him when the trophy and the T- shirt arrived in the mail. “ He was so excited when he pulled this trophy out of the box. He just couldn’t wait to go and show other people what he had accomplished.” Which is how the kid who arrived from Mexico not being able to speak became the talk of the school. “ I’m amazed by how much determination he has,” says Kovachik. “ He’s just an amazing kid. I’m so proud of him. The whole school is proud of him.” We all should be proud of him. Leonardo, the severely challenged student, has taught us all a lesson that so many still haven’t learned. That sometimes the biggest challenge is simply deciding your challenges can be overcome. That’s Leonardo’s lesson. gordon. sinclair@ freepress. mb. ca GORDON SINCLAIR JR. Leonardo teaches us all a lesson about challenges Do to la be bo da ad sy ne to Va Mo co li pe tu co th co tu no go th do mi bu en ca al pr On permanent display SIGNIFICANT public artworks commissioned in recent years by the City of Winnipeg: emptyful ( 2012): Sculpture/ fountain at the south side of the Millennium Library. Artist: Vancouver’s Bill Pechet. Cost: $ 575,000, with Ottawa contributing $ 200,000. River Arch ( 1999): Sculpture on the Norwood Bridge. Artist: Montreal’s Catherine Widgery. Cost: $ 365,000. City. Block. Stop. ( 2010): Bus shelter at the north side of the University of Winnipeg, along Ellice Avenue. Artist: Winnipeg’s David Perrett. Cost: $ 150,000. Agassiz Ice ( 2008): Sculpture on north side of Assiniboine River near Portage Avenue pedestrian entrance to Assiniboine Park. Artist: Winnipeg’s Gordon Reeve. Cost: $ 75,000. – Kives ‘ Symbolic container of emptiness’ fills Millenium Library courtyard Ambitious nothingness By Bartley Kives KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Artist Bill Pechet in front of ‘ emptyful,’ which is located at the rear of the Millennium Library. SUBMITTED PHOTO Award winner Leonardo Navarrete B_ 01_ Jun- 05- 12_ FP_ 01. indd B1 6/ 4/ 12 10: 08: 06 PM ;