Lafontaine Iron Werks behind major public art sculptures across Canada – simcoe.com

Locally, they’re reputed for unique fire bowls, but nationally, their major public art sculptures can be found dotted across the country.

Lafontaine Iron Werks (LIW) started small, making maquettes of Ron Baird’s “Spirit Catcher” sculpture in Barrie in 1995.

But word of mouth about the company’s ability to turn an artist’s idea into a 3D structure spread.

“The art community is a very small community,” said Michael Bilyk, owner and president.

The first sculpture the company built was the imposing John McEwen piece outside Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena in 1996.

Initially started as a side business to M.C. Laser Works in Barrie, LIW became the central business when Bilyk closed the Barrie shop in 2011. The welding shop located behind Bilyk’s Lafontaine home now employs four people, two of whom are Bilyk’s sons.

“We love what we do. The boys really enjoy what they do for a living.”

The company is behind public artworks – both big and small – across the country, but it’s still not a household name. Bilyk is OK with that.

“We don’t get credit for the public artwork, because we are contracted to build something for the artist. The artist has the imagination, the creativity and the formal training. We have a knack for understanding what the artists want. We take a lot of the pain away for the artist.”

LIW oversees the engineering, the computer design, 3D printing, welding, fabrication, construction and installation.

Bilyk’s favourite project is Dendrites, a sculpture by artist Michel de Broin. The climbable public art is at the Place Bonaventure in Montreal.

In 2017, Bilyk held a Dendrites grand opening on his Lafontaine property, where his crew constructed the monster-sized sculpture. Then they disassembled and packed it in seven tractor trailers. It took five days to assemble in Montreal.

Simcoe County public art includes the City of Barrie entrance signs, the 25-foot Astrolab sculpture and 25-foot steel canoe in Penetanguishene’s Rotary Champlain-Wendat Park, and Awen’ Gathering Place in Collingwood’s Harbourview Park, which honours the Anishinaabe/Medewiwin Seven Grandfather Teachings.

The most recent piece on which LIW collaborated is “Place of the White Rolling Sands” on Penetanguishene’s Main Street by artist Camille Myles.

For more information, visit liwi.ca.