The Canoes, Donald Lipski, 2018

SERVICES PROVIDED: Design coordination, Materials research, Budget management, Engineering coordination and oversight, Fabricator bid process, Fabrication oversight, Lighting design development, Shipping, Installation services, Scheduling, Project close-out.

The Canoes is located at the pedestrian overlook on the new Lesner Bridge in Virginia Beach. This 36’ tall freestanding sculpture designed by artist Donald Lipski consists of a stainless steel catenary arch supporting 10 canoes arranged in a star pattern, with a delicate filigree of cut-out patterns. The work welcomes visitors to the Chesapeake Bay Area and features a seating area overlooking the Bayfront. In the evening the work is illuminated by interior LED lighting further emphasizing the detailed negative space created by the cut-out patterns.

Lipski came up with the canoe design after learning that Adam Keeling, who owned a plantation nearby in the 1600s, and a group of others, dug a trench wide enough for a canoe to cross a sandbar between the Lynnhaven River and the Chesapeake Bay. A storm with high tides widened the ditch that became the Lynnhaven Inlet. In Lipski’s words, “My hope is that this sculpture speaks to your history, to what you are today and to what you will be tomorrow.”

Check out the videos embedded below to learn more about this project.

Select text and images courtesy of Donald Lipski. Digital modeling and presentation graphics by Mowry Studio.