Temporary Public Art

Brantford's Grand Exhibit is a partnership between the City of Brantford and Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant, which features twelve to-scale reproductions from Glenhyrst's permanent collection displayed throughout the City. The Grand Exhibit showcases a small piece of over 600 original works of art from Glenhyrst's permanent collection. The twelve pieces selected for Brantford's Grand Exhibit were voted on by members of the community.

This project was made possible with the generous support from the Downtown Brantford BIA, Brooks Signs, and Awake Productions.

View Brantford’s Grand Exhibit locations.

Artist: Kyle Joedicke
Location: Brantford Farmers' Market, 79 Icomm Drive

The mural at the Brantford Farmers’ Market was created by local Indigenous artist Kyle Joedike, Cayuga, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River. The mural depicts historic agricultural practices and plants that are significant to the Haudenosaunee people. Corn, beans, and squash, otherwise known as the “Three Sisters,” are shown growing side by side. Also pictured are a representation of the strawberry, or “heart berry,” and an abstract representation of maple trees.

“I wanted to bring Indigenous cultural and agricultural knowledge to the forefront of the space,” says Joedike.

“Our connection with nature is held together by a very frayed string. We have an incredible tenuous balance with the resources that we take, and the effect that has on the environment. This piece is meant to speak to how we need to maintain that balance through sustainable agricultural practices to ensure that the resources we have will be left for the generations to come.” Joedike hopes the mural will also help “the Indigenous community of Brantford feel a sense of ownership and inclusion in an urban environment.”

The mural can be viewed in the café space inside the Brantford Farmers’ Market, during regular hours of operation.

Artists: Betony Coons and Katie Flindall
Location: Brantford Public Library Main Branch, 173 Colborne Street

Artists' Statement: "Our collaboration vision for the Brantford Library Children’s space is a visually engaging, colorful assemblage that intertwines the natural waterways, parks, wildlife and flora of Brantford with whimsical visuals that represent the library’s role in a child’s life-long journey of learning and exploration.

Our intent is to spark imagination and ignite questions about our big beautiful world while creating a magical and cozy space for children young and old to curl up with a good book. Like a canoe traveling down the river, our mural hopes to speak to the journey through stories at the library and the exploration of Brantford’s local landscape of trails, flora and native species."

Artists: Cassandra Chambers, Aleah Durham, Elizabeth Gosse, Arlene Laskey, Dave McCreary, Aliki Mikulich, Alex Mikulich, Lizzie Mikulich, Christa Potter and Heather Vollans
Location: Various

The Little Free Library in Brantford is a public art project aimed at inspiring a love of reading, building community, and sparking creativity in Brantford. This is a collaborative project between the City of Brantford, Brant Skills Centre, and Jono & Laynie Photo + Film.

There are many benefits of installing Little Free Libraries, including: an enhanced sense of neighbourhood and community pride; freewheeling exchange of books that is community-curated; offers insight into the values and interest of our community; and children, youth and adults of all ages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds can participate equally - among countless other reasons.

Our hope is that these Little Free Libraries will inspire the love of reading, provide learning opportunities, and encourage appreciation for public art in Brantford. These humble book exchanges will help to enhance our neighbourhoods, and will provide our community with a space to express what is important to them.