Despite an outpouring of negativity, Huntsville council wants to see Pipe Man stay put.
The town had recently put out an anonymous survey online to ask about the location of the donated piece of art. Out of the over 1,300 people that took the survey, 90 per cent said they didn’t like the location and a majority said they just didn’t like the art.
During a Monday meeting, a motion was put forward to remove the artwork. But, council defeated the motion in a vote of five to four. Many councillors felt the art piece was a great addition to the town and thought it was bringing more national attention to Huntsville with a recent Pipe Man article in the Globe and Mail.
Before the vote, Mayor Scott Aitchison said he felt the motion was extremely offensive. He said there must be a better way to deal with this issue rather than telling the art donor to take it back.
Pipe Man donator Jan Nyquist, owner of Pipefusion, spoke to council before the vote saying he was offended by the negativity from the community over his $50,000 donation.
In May, Nyquist had the piece of the artwork, created by local artist Beverly Hawksley, installed on Muskoka River near the Town Docks. The artwork is meant to be a monument to famed artist Tom Thomson.
Following the vote, Aitchison said he would be meeting with Nyquist to talk about the split vote and the next steps to take with the artwork.
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