Mia Weinberg’s Close to Nature’s Heart transforms the floor surface of the main lobby level and adjoining exterior plaza into a giant canvas for her artwork. A unique cement skimming process was used to embed the image of magnified leaf skeleton complete with stem and veins across the polished cement floors. The artwork literally invites visitors to “come in and play” as many of the leaf veins display the names of local streets on them. For newcomers to the facility, the street names provide a subtle and beautiful visual prompt to navigate through the space. The artist hopes that visitors will see the streets where they live as vitally connected and part of a living thriving organism that draws its strength from each of its individual parts.
Delbrook Community Recreation Centre, 851 West Queens Road
Skimmed coloured cement floor
About the Artist:
As an artist specializing in site-specific public art projects, Weinberg is driven by the belief that art has the potential to make us more present and engaged in our world. Born in London, England, she moved to Vancouver in 1987 and graduated from Emily Carr University in 1994. Since that time her work has been exhibited across Canada and internationally. Her art practice explores the vital connections between the natural environment and the places where we live, our personal memories, and our collective civic and cultural stories.
“My hope is that my work will help the viewer become re-enchanted by the truly marvelous in the everyday.”
- Mia Weinberg
