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New public art unveiled at Canalside

Chris Caya/WBFO news

Another public artwork Silent Poets  has been installed at Canalside. Visitors will find the two poets sitting about 20-feet in the air on platforms atop separate poles in the Great Lawn next to the Central Wharf.

 

"It's a way for us to engage the public in a conversation, in a dialogue. It's about the enrichment of our community. It's about understanding who we are, what we can do and where we are going," said Janne Siren, Director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery’s Curator of Public Art Aaron Ott says the work was produced by artist Jaume Plensa in 2012.

"The people of Western New York may be familiar already with Jaume Plensa. 'Laura' the white marble sculpture that is on the north portico of the Albright Knox is also by Jaume Plensa," Ott said.

At night, the hollow resin figures will be illuminated at Canalside and symbolically converse by changing colors.

"They were installed in Miami briefly for about three months. They are on loan to us now so they've been in storage for quite some time. So, it's great to see them out in the public where they belong," Ott said.

Silent Poets will be on display at Canalside through October 2016.

Among those on hand for Tuesday's unveiling was Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

"If we can even give them (the public) a reason to come down here and think, and think about what that means--and to each person a piece of art means something different," said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

"They're going to be able to come down here and look at that and think, 'What are those gentlemen saying in their color schemes?'"