WW I mask project up in the air without exhibition space
St. John's sculptor Morgan MacDonald began making masks about a year ago to commemorate soldiers of the First World War, but there is still one major question surrounding the project — a final location.
MacDonald set out to make 100 bronze masks of living relatives of those who fought in the war. The project has been well received so far, with 65 of the masks completed, but he said it's hard to finish without a exhibition space.
"It's like a chicken and the egg kind of thing, because the final artistic vision has to come together, but unless you have a location for this, it's hard to have something that you can move forward with," MacDonald said.
"We're hoping that somebody will come forward with an actual location that we can erect this in."
MacDonald said he is still looking for a space that is visible and public so that people can better understand the stories of those who fought in the war.
He said the location could be either indoors or outdoors and has considered displaying the masks along a trail or at a vista. However the final orientation and design is still up in the air.
Personal stories
MacDonald is targeting a date after July 1 to unveil his project, and he said that he's not rushing to finish, as the war went on for two years after Beaumont Hamel.
"The story of the war doesn't stop at that point," he said.
"Beaumont Hamel was a major component to the war, but there's many things that happened that are of equal importance after this."
MacDonald said he's had more interest than he expected in the project. He said it was tough to pick 100 participants because there were so many good stories.
"When we started out, a hundred portraits of the Great War, I guess we didn't envision [200-300] guests coming in to participate," he said.
In the meantime, MacDonald is also working on other projects, but he said the masks are particularly special for him because of the personal stories he's heard.
"When I first walked in to this, the war was more or less a history book, but when you start to drill down to the personal stories, it puts a different perspective on it."