The School of Creative Arts (SoCA) has collaborated with Art Windsor-Essex (AWE) to create reproductions of the façade panels from artist Sara Graham’s public art commission, On the Other Side of Tomorrow for the Gordie Howe International Bridge's Canadian Port of Entry in Windsor.

The reproductions will be featured on the title wall of Graham’s upcoming exhibition at AWE: Sara Graham: Cut-outs, Offcuts, and Cast-offs curated by alumna Nadja Pelkey (BFA 2008), a sessional instructor in the school.

In this exhibition, Graham proposes alternative ways of looking at the city and its parts, examining relationships between the built environment, the landscape it occupies, and repeating forms in cityscapes.

“The new bridge is the largest infrastructure project currently underway in Canada. For generations, Sara’s work will be there, and I’m so pleased to have been able to work with her on an exhibition that not only gives people a greater understanding of her practice, but also a sense of her project at the bridge site,” Pelkey says.

Mirroring the industrial processes used in the construction of the commissioned work, artist and SoCA MakeLab technician Lucy Howe worked with AWE and Graham to recreate the commissioned panels in high density foam using a computerized CNC router.

“It’s been really fun,” says Howe. “I’ve loved working with Sara’s imagery; the panels are beautifully designed; and it’s really exciting to take a common construction material and transform it into something so aesthetically stunning.”

Pelkey calls working with Howe to reproduce the panels an incredible experience.

“We are all better when we work collaboratively,” Pelkey says.

“This exhibition and project really highlight how art reaches into everything: architecture, engineering, planning, and more. From an education standpoint, I would love to hear from students, faculty, and the general public what their thoughts are about the show and how they can connect it to what they are studying, practising, and seeing in the world.”

AWE at Night will feature a tour with Graham and Pelkey in the exhibition space on Thursday, March 16, at 6:15 p.m. Sara Graham: Cut-outs, Offcuts, and Cast-offs remains on display through May 28 at the gallery, 401 Riverside Dr. W. Art Windsor-Essex offers free memberships to anyone under 25.