Secrets of Montreal's business district offered up in new McCord walking tour

A tight group of figures, 65 in all, stands on McGill College Avenue, pointing triumphantly across the street. The sculpture, The Illuminated Crowd, is Montreal's most photographed public artwork. 

At the front are the revellers. Fewer passersby may notice the dishevelled figures at the back, showing the darker side of humanity.

McCord museum guide Joanna Abrahamowicz takes her tour groups there, to the back, describing how the work captures "the feeling of downtown crowd, being together and also, alone and isolated."

The 1986 work by English artist Raymond Mason is one of the stops on Abrahamowicz's new art and architecture tour called Ville-Marie: Montreal's Business District.

Another is The Secret Bench by Czech-born Canadian sculptor Lea Vivot, located across the street from Mason's work.

Abrahamowicz said there are different opinions about the relationship between the two figures on the bench — are they brother and sister, or in a romantic relationship?

Most of the attendees on a Wednesday morning tour said they thought the two represented a couple. 

The bench invites downtown pedestrians to stop and consider things on a human scale, despite the skyscrapers around them, Abrahamowicz said.  

It also has some quirky flourishes most passersby miss but which Abrahamowicz points out.

Like the signature of the former mayor of Montreal, the late Jean Doré, which is engraved into the bench with the quote "Montreal, a secret to uncover."

Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz engraved Snoopy on the bench and wrote, "Love is a warm puppy."

Passing on the love of art

Last summer, children from underprivileged backgrounds were led through activities in the museum, and on their lunch break, Abrahamowicz took them to the nearby McGill University campus.

An artist herself, Abrahamowicz decided to share her enthusiasm for the public works of art in the area with a spontaneous tour for the children as they walked to the campus.

"One boy, eight years old, the next day, absolutely wanted to meet businessmen," Abrahamowicz said.

"He came back with a fake business card that he drew on a piece of cardboard and a bow tie."

His enthusiasm was infectious, and Abrahamowicz asked her director if her impromptu tours could be developed into an outing for an adult audience.

She said adults show the same enthusiasm the boy did, in their own way.

"The best reward is when you see the twinkle in their eye," she said.

Her tour joins two others offered by the museum of Milton Park and the Golden Square Mile.

Abrahamowicz said she makes a point of remembering the names of everyone on her tours and says that sometimes being an extrovert for a group of strangers can be a challenge.

The tour departs from the McCord and ends at Place du Canada, near Bonaventure Metro.

It is being offered in English and French until the end of September.