The MacLaren Art Centre, in partnership with the City of Barrie, is pleased to announce the unveiling of Recalculating, a new temporary public sculpture featuring 10 colourful street sign designs created by children and youth from across Barrie.
The sculpture will be unveiled at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3, on the front lawn of the MacLaren Art Centre at 37 Mulcaster St., where it will remain on view until May 2027.
Created in celebration of the MacLaren’s 40th anniversary, Recalculating invited local children and youth to consider how their creativity could contribute to the city they call home.
More than 80 young people from Maple Ridge Secondary School, Bear Creek Secondary School, Cundles Heights Public School, Maple Grove Public School and Youth Haven participated in the project.
MacLaren art instructors visited participating classrooms and worked with youth to explore design principles and basic ideas about urban planning.
The young artists then created their own imaginative street signs using markers, paint, pencil and paper, and, in one instance, digital drawing tools. Rather than providing literal directions, the resulting signs reflect the interests, ideas and imaginations of their creators.
Ten designs were selected by a jury representing the MacLaren Art Centre, City of Barrie and Barrie public art committee. The selected designs were scanned and reproduced in vinyl before being applied to metal backings, giving the youth-created artworks the appearance and physical presence of real street signs.
The 10 selected artists are Abigail Calderon, Alexis van der Wal, Aurora Knowles, Avery Miles, Briella Howey, Coral Groot, Halle Wilson, Isabella Pagrion, Kaitlyn Hewett, and Kris Morley.
“This project gave young people an opportunity to look at the city from their own perspective and think about what they notice, what matters to them and what they might want others to notice, too,” says Tyler Durbano, artistic director of the MacLaren Art Centre. “Their creations reveal something about how young people see their community, through humour, colour and imagination.
"Seeing 10 of their designs brought into public space is a meaningful part of our 40th anniversary. Youth have been at the core of the MacLaren’s work for so long, and we have seen how supporting their educational and creative pursuits can help build a generation of people who are connected to and invested in their community. Recalculating is another way for us to make that connection visible," Durbano added.
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The project is a partnership between the MacLaren Art Centre and the Barrie public art committee, a volunteer committee of the City of Barrie. The collaboration brings together the MacLaren’s experience in arts education and community engagement with the city’s ongoing work to support public art in Barrie.
“We are proud of all of our students who participated in Recalculating and embraced the opportunity to think creatively about the city they call home. Seeing their ideas transformed into public artwork is a powerful reminder that young people play an important role in shaping and enriching our community,” said Hailey Mills Knapp, vice-principal at Cundles Heights Public School. “We are grateful to the MacLaren Art Centre and the City of Barrie for providing a meaningful learning experience that fostered creativity, confidence, and community connection.”
All 80-plus youth-created designs from Recalculating can be viewed online at maclarenart.com/signproject2026.
The MacLaren Art Centre extends sincere thanks to the youth, teachers and school administrators, and Youth Haven for their participation in this project, and to the City of Barrie and the Barrie public art committee for their generous support.
