Husband-and-wife team selected for Carlyle sculpture

The city’s new public arts committee has officially announced the two Woodstock artists selected to create a sculpture honoring historic painter Florence Carlyle.

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From a shortlist of four compelling proposals, Duane and Ursula Kumala-Thomas were awarded the public art commission for BIRD SET FREE, a concept inspired by Carlyle’s nickname of “Bird.” The artwork, when completed, will merge three components — a bird, a birdcage and a corset — that reflect the societal constraints on Carlyle’s life during the Victorian era while exploring themes of “confinement and freedom,” art gallery officials said in a release.

The artists — a husband-and-wife team that co-own a local photography and framing studio — also enjoy a unique connection to Carlyle, gallery officials noted.

“This project holds a special place in our hearts. Beyond the significance of celebrating Florence Carlyle’s legacy in our community, as parents of two, we have had the honor of raising our family in the same home Carlyle grew up in,” Duane Kumala-Thomas said.

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The artists will be awarded $75,000 for the completion of their sculpture, which will be installed in Woodstock’s Florence Carlyle Park by 2025.

“BIRD SET FREE is a fitting tribute to Florence Carlyle’s accomplishments as a trailblazing female artist. I’d like to extend my sincere congratulations to Duane and Urszula and thank the members of the public art committee who made this thoughtful selection,” said Mary Reid, the Woodstock gallery’s curator.

Gallery officials announced the shortlist of artists in early May after receiving a number of proposals. The four shortlisted concepts were displayed online and at the Woodstock Art Gallery for much of the month of May. Woodstonians were also invited to share their thoughts on the four submissions via an online survey. This public feedback was reviewed by the public art committee during its selection process.

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The Woodstock Art Gallery launched this project in May 2023 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Carlyle’s death. Gallery officials invited artists from across the province to submit their proposals for a commemorative sculpture in the Bruce Flowers Sculpture Garden in the city’s Florence Carlyle Park.

The Woodstock Art Gallery received $50,000 towards the public art commission from the Department of Canadian Heritage Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage – Legacy Fund. The fund provides money for capital projects that transform and enhance a public outdoor space while commemorating the 100th anniversary of a significant local historical event or individual.

The remaining $25,000 of the commission is being covered by the city’s art acquisition reserve fund, which can only be used to purchase works of art for the gallery’s permanent collection. While the finished sculpture will be displayed in Carlyle’s namesake park, it will be considered a part of the gallery’s permanent collection.

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Raised in Woodstock, Carlyle was an internationally recognized artist who garnered numerous accolades during her career. After continuing her education as a painter in Paris in the late 1800s, she returned to Canada and opened studios in Woodstock and London.

In 1897, she became the first woman artist to be elected as an association of the Royal Canadian Academy. Following the opening of her studio in New York City, Carlyle won several awards for her works, including a silver medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition for her oil painting, The Tiff.

Carlyle would eventually move to Sussex, England, with her partner, Juliet Hastings. Much of her work is now in the permanent collection of the Woodstock Art Gallery.

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