Subscribe
Back to Search
Contact(s)
Orillia Packet & Times
More than a decade ago, Gordon Lightfoot immortalized Orillia in a song called Couchiching. Friday afternoon, on the shores of Lake Couchiching, Lightfoot himself was immortalized in bronze.
The Orillia native and folk music legend was present as a 13-foot-high bronze sculpture was unveiled in front of hundreds of fans and figures from his past. The sculpture, called Golden Leaves -- A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, has been installed at Barnfield Point, along the Lightfoot Trail in Tudhope Park.
The sculpture depicts Lightfoot as he would have appeared on the cover of the 1975 greatest-hits compilation, Gord's Gold. Lightfoot is seen sitting cross-legged, playing an acoustic guitar underneath a massive arch of maple leaves. The leaves feature scenes representing the songs on Gord's Gold, including Summer Side of Life, Carefree Highway and If You Could Read My Mind.
The interpretive scenes were included so figurative artist Timothy Schmalz could craft a work of art that would create curiosity about Lightfoot and his work as the years wore on, rather than putting together a piece simply showing Lightfoot playing a guitar. He listened to the songs depicted on the leaves over and over again to get each one right. Sometimes the inspiration struck right away; other times, it changed frequently.
"I'd only work on that song when that song played," Schmalz explained. "In the Early Morning Rain, the man was standing up; another month later, he was sitting down, he was more exhausted, he was more tired."
The exercise allowed Schmalz to gain a further appreciate for the complexity of Lightfoot's lyrics.
"His songs are deep," he said. "They're talking about the human condition so much, with an accent of Canadiana."
That attention to detail impressed Lightfoot.
"I was amazed because I knew that the songs were expressed in the ... work that he did," Lightfoot said. "It came out just the way I thought it would."
About a year-and-a-half ago, the project got underway. It wasn't until this time last year, though, when Schmalz and Christopher Bratty, of the Rudolph P. Bratty Family Foundation, were introduced. The foundation was the benefactor for the sculpture, giving Schmalz the ability to turn his vision into a 13-foot-high reality.
When Schmalz came to Bratty with the idea, Bratty asked, "How can we get it done?"
"You either do it or you don't," Bratty said, quoting a Lightfoot quip about songwriting. "I thought, 'Well, we've gotta do it. Let's get it done.'"
Members of the Bratty family are longtime fans of Lightfoot's work, which he said embodies Canada. When speaking to the crowd before the unveiling, Bratty called the sculpture a way to give back to Lightfoot for all he has given the world.
"To me, Gordon's music transcends because of its universality," Bratty said. "Everybody understands and can appreciate it, yet it remains Canadian at the core in some way that no artist really does."
Mayor Steve Clarke and Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton spoke to the crowd assembled Friday afternoon, focusing their remarks on the importance of Lightfoot in Orillia, relaying personal anecdotes about the songwriter's school days at Orillia Collegiate Institute or the impact of his music on the city's residents.
The admiration of his hometown -- and the impromptu reunions with old friends and colleagues -- allowed Lightfoot to reflect on the day as well as the city he grew up in.
"I was involved in music in this town as long as I can remember," Lightfoot said. "It's an amazing thing. Sometimes I say, 'Why me? What did I do that was so great?'"
For Schmalz -- and undoubtedly hundreds of thousands like him -- Lightfoot helped shape how he saw himself as a Canadian.
"Gordon Lightfoot has always meant being Canadian to me," Schmalz said. "He seemed to be the most real, emotional and authentic representation that defined my Canadian experience."
Schmalz's work won universal praise at the ceremony; among others, Bratty called it "magnificent." But perhaps none of the accolades were as important as from the subject himself, who the sculptor called Canada's answer to William Shakespeare.
"It's an amazing sculpture," Lightfoot said. "I'm honoured, much more so than any of the honours I've received up to this point in time. It's really special."
