Ernest Daetwyler: “Loveseat” Restoration
July 29, 2025
In late July, Interdisciplinary Sculptor and Visual Artist, Ernest Daetwyler, was on site in Del Crary Park behind the gallery to complete the restoration of his sculpture, “Loveseat” (hand carved Indiana limestone, 2008). Surface grime and a large amount of graffiti had recently built up on the surface of the artwork, requiring careful cleaning and restoration. As grime and paint from graffiti builds up, it penetrates the porous stone, posing a challenge for removal. In fact, in order to effectively remove it from the surface, high powered washing and sanding techniques are required. This process essentially re-sculpts the artwork, causing it to get smaller and smaller with each treatment. As such, who better to call to perform this delicate and precise work than the artist who created it?
“This week, I spent a couple of days on the maintenance and restoration of the public art project “Loveseat” (hand carved Indiana limestone, 2008) @agptbo_ . 😊 The site-specific sculptural work, beautifully located on Little Lake beside the Art Gallery of Peterborough is very popular and needed some maintenance work. I used various cleaning methods, including diamond pads via a wet grinding machine and by hand.
Thanks so much for calling on me Fynn Leitch, [AGP] curator! Thanks also to the Director Celeste Scopelites, Briar Sutherland, Dorothea Hines, and all staff for their assistance, particularly Emma Poley who joined me in the hand sanding process on day two for a couple of hours. This little project was labour-intensive but a lot of fun! 😊
In Peterborough, homelessness has increased and the opioid crisis hit hard. The significance of the “Loveseat”, thought initially as a more conceptual art project where the natural environment of the park becomes your living room arrangement, becomes even more relevant in this context.
Talking to a woman with homeless experience while working there, I was happy to hear that she said it is her favourite meeting place and she would just tell people to meet at the “couch”.
You may have noticed that there are quite a few art projects realized over the years, where marginalized people definitely feel welcome and the idea of community becomes real. This approach feels important to me. As the world shifts, alternative and progressive models of living, working, organizing and being in community in a broader sense may become increasingly important, if not [essential].
As a multidisciplinary, idea and concept based artist, I am definitely interested in contributing to new ideas and concepts of living together peacefully as human and non-human beings, in theory and in practice.” – Ernest Daetwyler, Instagram, 2025
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Are you interested in learning more about the “Loveseat”? Check out the remote interview, Artists in Conversation: Ernest Daetwyler from 2020 in which Daetwyler discusses his method and process for creating the public art sculpture.
Posted in In the Community, Permanent Collection