The Pasture - Toronto, Ontario - Figurative Public Sculpture on Waymarking.com

When you spot these cows in downtown Toronto you just have to smile. They are completely relaxed in their own green pasture and seem not to notice all the people rushing by or standing and staring at them.

About the artist:

"Joseph Fafard, sculptor (b at Ste-Marthe-Rocanville, Sask 2 Sept 1942). Joe Fafard attended the University of Manitoba (BFA 1966) and Pennsylvania State University (MFA 1968). He began his career making kinetic sculpture, but soon after his appointment at the University of Saskatchewan in 1968 he turned to satirical plaster portraits of his colleagues and people in the art world. He started working in ceramic around 1972, broadening his range of subjects to respond to the life and people of his community. In 1985, he switched to bronze as his medium of choice. Through his ceramic and bronze portraits of people and animals in the fold art tradition, Fafard has gained considerable recognition across the country and internationally.

In 1985 Fafard's work The Pasture, comprising 7 bronze cows with varying patinas, was completed for an area outside the IBM tower of the Toronto Dominion Centre, Toronto.

Joe Fafard was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981; awarded the Architectural Institute of Canada Allied Arts Award in 1987; received an honorary Degree from the University of Regina in 1989, and from the University of Manitoba in 2007; received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2002; received the National Prix Montfort in 2003; received the Lieutenant Governor's Saskatchewan Centennial Medal for the Arts in 2005."*1

" He continued to build his reputation in the mid-1980s when won the Toronto Dominion Bank's commission to create a new public art installation outside its towers in downtown Toronto and decided to make the switch from largely working in ceramics to exploring bronze as a medium.

The Pasture, his installation of seven life-sized bronze cows resting in a grassy area in the middle of the city's financial district, has become an iconic Toronto artwork amid the host of other quirky and audience-friendly artworks he has created over the years."*2



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Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: The Pasture Figure Type: Animal Artist Name or use 'Unknown' if not known: Joe Fafard Date created or placed or use 'Unknown' if not known: 1985 Materials used: Bronze Location: Lawn at the Toronto Dominion Centre, between King & Wellington Sts, King Street West, Toronto

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/16/2022 CMonky visited it 09/07/2018 AlsT1910a visited it 07/29/2017 LopezCacherz visited it 12/10/2016 elyob visited it 04/14/2016 MrARC visited it 03/15/2013 Trail Blaisers visited it 10/05/2011 ras258 visited it 09/08/2011 mTn_biKer65 visited it

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