The Illumination

This striking sculpture by Nicholas Wade was created specifically for the Millennium Library in Winnipeg that underwent an extensive renovation during 2004-2005. The Illumination rests on the first floor of the beautiful new Richardson Reading Terrace, a glazed addition that reaches up four stories.
 
Selected from nearly 70 submissions, the artwork by Nicholas Wade was among the first to be completed under the auspices of the City of Winnipeg’s public art policy. Established in 2004 to direct the integration of artwork into public spaces, the policy and program is administered by the Winnipeg Arts Council on behalf of and in collaboration with the City of Winnipeg.
 
The competition for one or more site-specific, permanent public art works for the newly renovated central branch of the Winnipeg Public Library took place in the fall of 2004. Proposals were received from artists across Canada. The artists were asked to address in their proposals the idea of libraries in the 21st century, exploring, for example, notions of information gathering, access to information, literacy, and culture.
 
Standing a bold 12 feet high, Nicholas Wade's artwork The Illumination rests adjacent to a wall of windows that looks out on the Library’s greenspace. The work speculates on our culture's preoccupation with language and on the origins of form in typography and the influences on form in architecture. The sculpture comprises the letters T H E interlocked in an architectural 'embrace'.