Locavore (2015 | Carleton University Campus, Ottawa, Ontario)

SEPTEMBER 1, 2025
 
Central to the idea of locavore are the complex power structures inherent to any ecosystem. Key species of flora and fauna, sometimes overlooked as inconsequential, are imperative to the proper functioning of the diverse global biospheres.
 
As the bronze coyote gazes up at the snowshoe hare, seated on a natural subversion of a classical Greco-Roman column, there is allusion to the criticality of knowledge that is contained within the wild. By inverting the relationship of predator and prey, the installation points to the importance of recognizing the current limitations of our understanding of ecological processes, the consequence of misalignment and the danger of ignoring our own inter-dependence on the environment.
 
From Carleton University’s Charlatan student paper:
 
On Sept. 1, Locavore, a bronze sculpture created by artist Mary Anne Barkhouse, was officially unveiled on Carleton’s campus in front of Paterson Hall.
 
The sculpture, which features a snowshoe hare and a Western coyote, is “supposed to be a consideration of what our perception is of wilderness and the natural order of things, and that there should be a respect for how that order evolved,” Barkhouse said.
 
Locavore is located in the quad in front of the library, which Barkhouse says is a fantastic location because it represents people having their way of cataloging information and nature having its own way.
 
Read more here