My name is Francyne Lord, and I am an art expert. I managed the Bureau d'art public of the City of Montréal for 26 years. I am the secretary of the Commission permanente de l'art public of Culture Montréal and a member of the Comité consultatif en reconnaissance de Montréal, which is responsible for providing opinions on material commemoration projects.
I am testifying before you as an individual with the conviction that my experience can shed some light on the process under way. I have conducted more than 75 public art competitions, many of which were commemorative in nature.
Out of a concern for fairness and to prevent arbitrary choices, the City of Montreal brought in outside experts with recognized experience to select artworks. In all the years I worked there, no jury decision in any City of Montreal competition was ever, at any time, questioned by authorities, who were aware that the process and rules were founded on best practices.
Unlike an artwork destined for a museum collection, public artworks raise other issues. What added value does public art provide for an urban landscape? How does it attest to current creative work and help build a future artistic heritage.
The evaluation of a memorial project such as this one is more complex than any other public art project. Many factors are taken into consideration by the jury, which will pay particular attention, for example, to the way the artist treats the weight of memory and remains sensitive to the pain of the community concerned. In its work, however, the jury also takes into account the moment when the work enters history, since a monument always conveys the values of its time.
Does a citizen responding to a survey judge all that based on 10 lines of text and a few images. Can that citizen analyze all the considerations that have guided the jury's choice?
In conclusion, I want to draw your attention to the consequences of the decision made by the Department of Veterans Affairs to disregard the jury's recommendation. Such a decision undermines the government's credibility with regard to public art. It also leaves traces. It undermines trust in the governance of the highest institution in the country, from which we should expect exemplary practices.
Thank you.