Udderly gone: Markham cow sculpture on stilts to be remoooved from crescent

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 25, 2017
By Tim Kelly

Markham councillors are kowtowing to Charity Crescent residents and will relocate the city's controversial cow sculpture on stilts.

Just when 'Charity,' the stainless-steel cow that stands 25 feet in the air, will be on the move is not yet known, but it was made clear by resident after resident that the sculpture was "good art in a bad location," at a development services committee meeting Monday.

Danny Da Silva, who lives on Charity Crescent, said "this is a monument that peers into homes leaving residents powerless to avoid the gaze of the on-looking cow. This is an invasion of our privacy. We have no place to hide," he said of the imposing statue.

Vic Lam, who lives right across from the statue, showed councillors photos he said indicate the cow is just 40 feet away from his windows.

"I have 13 windows that face the front of the house. The cow is terrifyingly close," he said to titters from the audience.

"It's at eye level and it's just absurd," he said.

Councillors, by and large, agreed with residents that the sculpture simply doesn't belong on Charity Crescent and suggested another location needs to be found somewhere in Markham.

"We voted to remove it, to find a location, to come back in October, to get a report and to have a relocated place by 2017," said Regional Councillor Nirmala Armstrong.

The suggestion was Cathedraltown would be ideal for Charity, given its connection to the Roman family, which developed the community.

Cathedraltown-area councillor Alan Ho, admitted to "dropping the ball" when council approved the sculpture's acceptance from donor Helen Roman-Barber for Charity Crescent in June 2016.

Ho referenced the fact that twice before the city's public art advisory committee had rejected the piece, even though it had been approved by the Varley art acquisition committee in-principle with reservations.

It's clear the city will be on the hook for removal and relocation costs. No discussions of those costs came up at Monday's meeting.

Roman-Barber has been asked about moving or removing the sculpture and has said no in the past, but city staff are going to approach her about an alternate location one more time and report back in time for Markham's Oct. 17 council meeting.