Just over two years on from wowing Rush fans across Canada with an incredibly detailed statue of Neil Peart, a Newfoundland sculptor will now have his work incorporated in a public memorial to the band's late drummer and primary lyricist.
Yesterday (November 8), the City of St. Catharines' Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force announced that Morgan MacDonald of the Newfoundland Bronze Foundry will create the memorial in Peart's honour, which will stand alongside the Neil Peart Pavilion in the Ontario city's Lakeside Park.
The memorial concept centres around "two larger-than-life-sized bronze sculptures" (seen above) of Peart designed by MacDonald and a creative team, providing "insight into Peart's personal and professional legacies."
A first sculpture, said to stand about 12 feet tall, depicts Peart as a "young artist and poet" in Rush's '70s period, holding a book and drumsticks, and with his immaculate moustache of the era expertly recreated.
A second sculpture shows Peart in his later years "holding a small piece of his drum kit and offering his drumsticks to visitors." Sabian Cymbals, with whom the artist had a longstanding relationship, will provide some of Peart's old and damaged cymbals to be melted down and incorporated into the monument's features.
Both works will "be surrounded by elements representative of [Peart's] life as a poet, novelist and lyricist," and will be set along a "pathway connecting the sculptures ... with seating areas for reflection, interactions with light and sound, supporting landscape features, and a place to recognize those contributing to the legacy project."
MacDonald — a longtime Rush fan who made Permanent Waves in revealing his statue of Peart designed over 1000 hours in 2020 — had his concept chosen by the Commemorative Task Force from a shortlist of seven recommended artists.
"Our monument and site design concepts are the results of an extensive personality interpretation and expression exercise that ensures meaningful relevance to people, place and legacy," MacDonald expressed in the submission. "We are proud of this effort and its results."
The Peart memorial is contingent on the task force meeting a $1 million fundraising goal. Donations of any size can be made towards the memorial project via the City of St. Catharines.
Peart, who passed away aged 67 in January 2020 following a battle with brain cancer, grew up in St. Catharines and held a job working at a former midway at Port Dalhousie's Lakeside Park in the summers. His time working there was immortalized in the lyrics of "Lakeside Park," which appears on Rush's 1975 studio LP Caress of Steel.
In September, Exclaim! celebrated 45 years of Rush's A Farewell to Kings with fellow Ontarians and devout Rush fans Crown Lands.
Yesterday (November 8), the City of St. Catharines' Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force announced that Morgan MacDonald of the Newfoundland Bronze Foundry will create the memorial in Peart's honour, which will stand alongside the Neil Peart Pavilion in the Ontario city's Lakeside Park.
The memorial concept centres around "two larger-than-life-sized bronze sculptures" (seen above) of Peart designed by MacDonald and a creative team, providing "insight into Peart's personal and professional legacies."
A first sculpture, said to stand about 12 feet tall, depicts Peart as a "young artist and poet" in Rush's '70s period, holding a book and drumsticks, and with his immaculate moustache of the era expertly recreated.
A second sculpture shows Peart in his later years "holding a small piece of his drum kit and offering his drumsticks to visitors." Sabian Cymbals, with whom the artist had a longstanding relationship, will provide some of Peart's old and damaged cymbals to be melted down and incorporated into the monument's features.
Both works will "be surrounded by elements representative of [Peart's] life as a poet, novelist and lyricist," and will be set along a "pathway connecting the sculptures ... with seating areas for reflection, interactions with light and sound, supporting landscape features, and a place to recognize those contributing to the legacy project."
MacDonald — a longtime Rush fan who made Permanent Waves in revealing his statue of Peart designed over 1000 hours in 2020 — had his concept chosen by the Commemorative Task Force from a shortlist of seven recommended artists.
"Our monument and site design concepts are the results of an extensive personality interpretation and expression exercise that ensures meaningful relevance to people, place and legacy," MacDonald expressed in the submission. "We are proud of this effort and its results."
The Peart memorial is contingent on the task force meeting a $1 million fundraising goal. Donations of any size can be made towards the memorial project via the City of St. Catharines.
Peart, who passed away aged 67 in January 2020 following a battle with brain cancer, grew up in St. Catharines and held a job working at a former midway at Port Dalhousie's Lakeside Park in the summers. His time working there was immortalized in the lyrics of "Lakeside Park," which appears on Rush's 1975 studio LP Caress of Steel.
In September, Exclaim! celebrated 45 years of Rush's A Farewell to Kings with fellow Ontarians and devout Rush fans Crown Lands.
