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Salmon Run

Salmon Run

Susan Schelle
b.1947

Salmon Run
  • Bronze and granite
  • 1991
  • 15 m x 15 m x 2.5 m
  • 1 Blue Jays Way, CN Tower, Toronto

About the artwork

Salmon Run is a sculptural fountain created by artist Susan Schelle in 1991. The fountain is a combination of both black and atlantic green granite as well as bronze. It depicts salmon swimming upstream through a barrier of reeds and eelgrass and is approximately 8 feet high and 50 feet across. Salmon Run was created to acknowledge the natural heritage of the Toronto lakeshore and inspire hope for the ecological well-being of an area now dominated by human traffic.

About the artist

Susan Schelle was born in Hamilton Ontario, and currently lives and works in Toronto. She is an Associate Professor Emerita of Visual Studies, J.H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto. Working with sculpture and photography, Ms. Schelle is interested in the “manipulation of the familiar: images that deal with the phenomenon of the physical world and the customs of a particular time and place”. She has completed a number of public art commissions, notably Salmon Run The Rogers Center in Toronto,  “Passage at York University in Toronto and Laws of Nature at  Courthouse in Square Park in Toronto. She has shown both nationally and internationally including The Cenci Gallery in Rome, Italy and The Freedman Gallery Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. Her work resides in the collections of Air Canada, The Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. The Art Gallery of Hamilton in Hamilton. The Winnipeg Art Gallery in Winnipeg, The Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver and The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. In addition to her own work, Ms. Schelle has collaborated with Mark Gomes on several Public Commissions, most recently “jetstream” Terminal One, Pearson International Airport, Toronto.  Schelle has received numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council and two Urban Design Awards for her public projects. Schelle was a founding member of the collective “Cold City Gallery” in Toronto and has served on the boards of Mercer Union Toronto and The Power Plant Contemporary Art in Toronto.

Fun facts

  • The two species of Pacific Salmon found in Lake Ontario are the Chinook and Coho salmon. Chinook salmon grow larger and are more heavily stocked than the Coho, with approximately 1.7 million Chinook salmon and 250,000 Coho salmon stocked annually in Lake Ontario and its tributaries.

Engagement questions

  • In your opinion, what are the characteristics that make an artwork iconic?