p 15 JOCK HILDEBRAND:
Leesa – you now have 16 years experience in public art. That is a long time. LEESA STRIMBICKI: Yes, since 1995, actually. That’s when I started my business.
JH: How did you come to form a company that deals in public art? LS: Well, I had a serendipitous opportunity. I was working for the City of North Vancouver as a landscape architect and I was kind of bored and not quite happy working in the public sector. So I called a colleague of mine who I knew from University who had his own business. I asked him if he had any extra work for me so I could jump from the City to the private sector. He said no, but his partner Margo had been involved with a development company in Coal Harbour and they needed somebody to help them. They had asked somebody from Seattle to join the team, but the client wanted someone in Vancouver to manage the program, so I stepped on board.
JH: So you jumped right in. Did you start a company right away? LS: Yes, the first job we did was a Master Plan for Coal Harbour and it grew from there.
JH: You know, I’ve been a sculptor for close to 40 years now and I’ve noticed in the last 20 years opportunities in public art that never existed before. It seems to be getting more and more even though we’re going through what would appear to be a recession – do you find the same thing? LS: I find that in Canada there seem to be a lot more opportunities. I speak to my artist friends in the US and they are having a really difficult times down there. There don’t seem to be as many opportunities. I think we have weathered the recession better in Canada.
JH: Yes, even in the past couple years many opportunities have come across my desk and I’m not fully plugged in, but I would say I get about 15 to 20 a month. LS: Really – in Canada?
JH: Yes LS: That’s pretty much how it is. And I have a colleague in the US who I was working with on proposals for a couple of art plans. Then I just picked them off the internet and now I look and there is nothing in the US or Canada for master planning and the developers require the master plans.
JH: You started out as a landscape architect and made the move to public art – do you find it more satisfying, or do you miss the landscape architecture aspect? LS: No – I find this much more satisfying because I work for myself and I interact with a lot of artists so a lot of them have become my friends. I really like the opportunity to work with the artists, to help them with their designs and so on and so forth.
JH: What would you say your philosophy about public art is?
LS: My philosophy is about place-making. It is truly important that art brings a sense of place to a space. Architects may disagree with me but I think the art brings something special to a space to make it into a place. That’s why I think it is really important that sculpture reflects certain aspects of the site, whether that be the history, the cultural aspects, whatever … all those kinds of things.
JH: It’s interesting you say that you feel architects and landscape designers might not have that attitude. Do you find a resistance in terms of placing pieces of public art with architects and landscape designers?
LEESA STRIMBICKI
S
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