MONTREAL/September 29, 2004—
The President and Vice-Chancellor of Concordia University, Frederick H. Lowy, has unveiled the glass mural conceived by Nicolas Baier/Cabinet Braun-BraÎn on the Mackay Street faÁade of the Integrated Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Complex to be inaugurated next year in the Quartier Concordia. The reception was held yesterday evening in the garden of St. James the Apostle Church (1439 St. Catherine Street West).
In addressing the guests, Dr. Lowy said that ìthe 6,000 sq. ft. mural is one of the largest in the country. It is also the most substantial budget ever allocated to a work of art in the history of the Integration of the Arts into Architecture and Environment Program of the ministËre de la Culture et des Communications du Quèbec (commonly referred to as the 1% program)î. This program ensures that a percentage of the government's allocation to the budget of a public building is dedicated to art.
Dr. Lowy further added that ìthe mural makes multiple references to the floral emblems of Montreal, the virtual greening of Mackay, the silver screen of the York Cinema, the verdant church garden just below it, all the while expressing the diversity of Concordia's population symbolized by the many leaves and petals of one plantî.
Nicolas Baier, artist-photographer, and former student in Concordia's Faculty of Fine Arts, led the team which was selected from a shortlist in September 2003. In association with Cabinet Braun- BraÎn, Baier capitalized on the advances in computer design and digital optics to provide a symbol of the synergies between the arts and sciences, thereby honouring the key mission of the building which the mural graces. The commission is a vital component of the Quartier Concordia urban planning project that is presently underway.
- 30 -
