Leaf Spirit of Maple Ridge

Unveiling Date:

July 1, 2009

Location:

Memorial Peace Park – Spirit Square - 11925 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC
This artwork was de-commissioned in July 2020 as a result of its deteriorated condition and public safety.

Materials Used:

The Leaf Spirit of Maple Ridge was painted in acrylics, product name of paint- ‘Golden’. The painting has two protective coatings; the first layer is a sealant. On top is a removable cover purchased through Opus. This cover was applied to protect the art from vandalism.


Funding/Contributing Partners:

The Ridge Meadows Educational Foundation with the support of:
  • City of Maple Ridge
  • School District No.42

Artist: Lisa Lake

Biography

Local artist Lisa Lake has taken the familiar image of a maple leaf and created a stunning visual that captures the meaning of community spirit. The strong outline shape represents wholeness while the branches depicted within suggest growth from a common source, linking us together. The addition of a solitary maple seed falling speaks to our shared future. Each smaller leaf illustrates a different facet of community life: fresh local produce, diversity, festivals and celebrations, sports and arts activities, boating and camping, and horseback riding.


Maple Leaves Taken Down

The iconic wooden maple leaves, painted various colours and mounted on the Bella Vita restaurant and the Fuller Watson building were removed at the request of the building owners because of maintenance issues according to Fred Armstrong, Manager of Community Engagement & Relations with the City of Maple Ridge. The leaves have been stored and will be re-purposed, Armstrong added.

In 2009, one leaf was refurbished and redesigned by local artist Lisa Lake and is permanently in Memorial Peace Park, unveiled on Canada Day 2009.

The cost to restore the leaf was about $7,500 and was done by the Ridge Meadows Education Foundation. Former Maple Ridge Councillor Cheryl Ashlie was involved in restoring the leaf - she interviewed people about what they thought about their community and community spirit and then gave the recordings to Lake to work into a visual art piece. “It was a lot of work to refurbish the wood so that it was a workable surface, so that would be the only caution I had going forward," Ashlie said.