Party at Base 31

Creative placemaking through arts and culture

When Base 31 opened its doors to the public on Saturday, more than 800 people showed up and they partied like it was 1945.

After a pandemic with rules that often felt like wartime restrictions, there was a definite sense of freedom as the crowds took historic tours around the Second World War air training base. They also enjoyed hula hoop demonstrations, painting classes, outdoor music, food trucks and the stilt-walking of Mile Murtanovski.

“We’ve taken down the ‘no trespassing’ signs,” said Assaf Weisz, Base 31 partner and placemaking officer. “We want people to come in and wander around. Bring a date, bring your family, bring a book.”

During a guided tour of the property, Weisz said the term “placemaking” was used by the legendary urbanist Jane Jacobs, who wanted to create places for people that would promote the vitality of life and encourage visitors to interact with strangers. “We are doing creative placemaking through arts and culture,” he said.

Three of the artists who created pieces for the Nature’s Aviators display at Base 31 pose with two of the creative staff. They are: back row (L-R): Assaf Weisz, partner and placemaking officer; painter Frank Hannan; ceramics artist Bill Greaves; (front row) Belleville painter Portia Chapman; and Christophe Doussot, manager of placemaking and public art operations. The two paintings on the right were created by Mile Murtanovski.

The main event of the afternoon was the unveiling of the Nature’s Aviators Art Installation that featured works by seven artists from the County and vicinity. The pieces have been attached to the outside walls of a building that houses two art galleries, Melt and Maison Depoivre.

Bill Greaves, a ceramics artist from Consecon, created an image of a bird using clay tiles that mimic the cedar shakes covering the outside walls of many of the buildings.

“Feathers are to birds as shingles are to buildings,” Greaves explained.

The other artists, including Murtanovski, were Vanessa Rieger, Portia Chapman, Steph Payne, Frank Hannan and Constance Intounas. Weisz said the site will soon be home to four large sculptures commissioned by Base 31.

He also said said the history of the 700-acre site is important as the ownership group PEC Partners Inc. focuses on the 70 acres with about 50 buildings on it, including a 22,000-square-foot former Drill Hall that will soon be a concert venue for audiences of 2,000. The first show will feature Canadian singer Sarah Harmer on July 22. There will also be a BigLake Arts Festival classical concert in August.

“We are trying to save every building that we can,” said Weisz, adding a structural engineer makes the final call. “All the buildings with red rooftops are in relatively good condition.”

On the outside of Building 8, a series of large photos depict what life was like for the pilots at Camp Picton after 1941 when the entire complex was built in about 10 months.

Weisz called on families with photos or documents from the base’s wartime period to share them with Base 31 staff.

“We want to tell the story of what life was like on the base,” he said outside the Sergeants Mess Hall, which will be converted into a café at one end and a cabaret space at the other by the end of October.

“We think of this site as an incredible canvas for storytelling,” Weisz said. “We are not trying to build Disneyland here. We want it to be authentic.”