Client: Regina Hill Group

Overview

David Hines, principal of Straight Circles Design collaborated with Venue Arts to create an abstract representation of wheat that occupies a multi-story atrium of the most significant building built in the last 20 years in the heart of Canada’s bread basket, Regina Saskatchewan. This 26ft synthetic glass wheat sculpture, cast in hues of yellow, orange and red is suspended from the building’s atrium ceiling. This abstract sculpture is stabilized with an engineered platform that joins the top linear wheat sheaves to the curvilinear sweeping grain below the mounting platform. This abstract art becomes the focal point of the building’s lobby.

Goals

The abstract artistic rendering of the wheat is equally as symbolic for Regina as the new skyscraper is for the revitalization of the downtown urban area. The Hill Centre III building is the first high-rise to be built in Regina in 20 years and it is equally significant that the building’s lead tenant is at the center of Saskatchewan’s of the agricultural industry. The client requested that the focal center of this new building be a piece of art representing agriculture. David Hines’ mission was to make wheat, a 3 dimensional beautiful work of art. Straight Circles Design successfully creates a piece of art that met the tenants requirements while simultaneously creating a focal piece that was interesting and pleasing to look at in the lobby of this important building. Straight Circles Design’s innovative use of unusual materials and inspired creativity presents a fabulous centerpiece for the lobby that engenders beauty, growth and interaction for all who enter the building while also symbolizing the history and the values that have made Regina what it is – the agricultural center of Canada.

Process

The collaboration for this huge work of art was extensive. The client contributed the necessary starting place. From there the artistic consultant, the engineers, the craftsmen, the material manufacturers, the CAD draftsmen, the building architects, even the movers, building engineers and the installers, all were involved through out the process of creating this massive, oversize sculpture. The one coordinating, keeping track of, and thinking ahead (trying to even anticipate the unknown variables) was David Hines of Straight Circles Design. David often had to problem solve and research uncharted areas for this project because the material he was working with, synthetic glass, had not been pushed to the extreme lengths or shapes in quite the way this projected demanded. But the coordination and cooperation of all involved meant that this project is unique in materials used and methods created to produce the final shapes and length. This unusual abstract piece of art could not have been achieved without the immense time, creativity and problem solving through out the process by all involved. The Wheat Sculpture in the Hill Centre III is truly a one of a kind piece of art.

Additional Information

This is a one of a kind piece, done in synthetic glass, by an artist who usually works singularly in his studio in Dallas, Texas. David incorporates others into his artistic process when experience or craftsmanship is needed. David gladly brought others into this project. Still this 26’ abstract artwork was manufactured in his one person studio, and genuinely was his piece, start to finish. How amazing to walk into a building knowing that he made that substantial piece of art residing in the lobby at the corner of 12th Avenue and Hamilton Street in Regina Canada?