Pure gold

Kingston Crescent

Fort Rouge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/06/2023 (1059 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Visitors to the Kingston Crescent end of the Elm Park bridge are sure of a big surprise.

That’s the site of the dancing golden bear, a tree-art sculpture recently unveiled — along with several narrative plaques and an honorary street naming — by the Kingston Crescent Residents’ Association and its partners to acknowledge and commemorate the unique history of the area.

According to a plaque in front of the sculpture, it symbolizes looking up and listening to the trees.

Dancing golden bear was conceived by Kevin Kelly, and chainsaw carver Fred Thomas executed the piece.

“I designed and came up with the idea and I hired Fred to do it,” Kelly said. “Fred was really good, and he did a wonderful job.”

Kelly, a recently retired professor who worked at the University of Manitoba’s school of art, said the inspiration for the design came — in part — from his time working as a tree planter in northern Manitoba, where he saw his fair share of bears.

“I was amazed by the way the bears would stand up tall like a person on their hind legs and sniff the air. These weren’t aggressive gestures, it’s because they don’t have great eyesight,” Kelly said, noting the idea is a nod to the legacy Asian deities and the gold paint is inspired by Buddhas. There is a also a synergy with Winnipeg’s own Golden Boy, he added.

“I wanted to create something that symbolized worshipping nature, and it ended up being half human, half bear.”

In terms of humans, dancing golden bear has attracted a lot of attention in the community since its creation, Kelly said.

“It’s created a lot of interest. Some people said I should do a series,” Kelly said, with a laugh. “It’s fun to make something like this, especially for kids, who love it. Lucky for me I got to do this. I’m really glad I did it.”

Noting it’s his biggest woodcarving to date, Thomas said he enjoyed the experience. He created the sculpture last June, and it took a total of 13 days.

“It feels very good to be part of it,” Thomas said. “I met with Kevin and he had an idea in his mind. We made a plan, did some sketches and got it together.”

“It was an amazing experience working on it, and I spoke to so many people in the neighbourhood,” Thomas added. “Everybody was interested in it. Some people were coming by every day or every second day to check how it was going. It was really something, and I was really pleased to be part of it, and really enjoyed working with the group.”

Thomas added that working at the location also brought back memories, as he recalled driving across the bridge with his parents as a child.

The two new interpretive panels that were recently unveiled feature the role trees have historically played in the neighbourhood.

Kelly noted there also used to be a floating pontoon bridge that was used during the summer, when people would pay five cents and walk over the bridge to enjoy dancing on Friday and Saturday nights.