Fungi of the Woods
Fungi of the Woods by LeuWebb Projects is a forthcoming public artwork, soon to be on display in the City of Mississauga.
LeuWebb Projects, Forthcoming (2024)
Burnhamthorpe Community Centre, 1500 Gulleden Drive
About the artwork
Fungi of the Woods is an imaginative interpretation of the sociability of mushrooms that is conceptually based on the ways in which community members connect with each other.
Mushrooms represent the possibility of transformation, ecological interconnectedness, and collaboration between species. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of underground fungal networks called mycorrhiza. Mushrooms, through mycorrhiza, use means of communication that are not immediately visible, and so too do people. Through body language and gestures, cultural norms and values, we also communicate through non-verbal means. Equally important are these means and methods, particularly in a neighbourhood as diverse and unique as Applewood – Rathwood.
Fungi of the Woods is an artwork accessible physically, sonically, and tactilely. It creates space for community and opens the creative possibility of social connection for all, while subtly communicating the wider connections across people and environments.
About the artists
LeuWebb Projects is the creative union between artists Christine Leu and Alan Webb, through which they mobilize their professional design backgrounds to produce moments of beauty in the public realm. Since 2011, they have created more than 20 site-specific artworks across the world. With each piece, Leu and Webb summon their shared artistic and architectural expertise in exploring how a site’s qualities can serve as metaphors for storytelling and critical discourse. They fuse this expertise with their core interests: to imagine how art and design can tangibly evoke past, current, and future narratives for a richer experience of place.
About the artwork selection
Through an open call to artists, the City’s public art program invited professional artists and artist teams to submit credentials and expressions of interest. Submissions were evaluated by an independent art selection committee and four applicants were shortlisted and invited to develop proposals.
The City of Mississauga heard from over 1400 local residents and visitors who provided their input on these four public art proposals. Fungi of the Woods received the highest number of votes (670), more than twice the number of the second-place proposal (330). The art selection committee selected Fungi of the Woods based on the selection criteria and survey feedback.
The art selection committee was comprised of individuals with expertise in design, architecture, curatorial practice, arts education, accessibility, urban planning, lived experience, and knowledge of the local neighbourhood.