Hamilton Good to Know: Giant bead maze wins GO public art contest

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Image | maze 2

Caption: Here's another artists rendering that shows the scale of the art installation (City of Hamilton/ Laura Marotta)

A giant version of a child's toy will be the public art created at Hamilton's newest GO station.
The city held a competition for the public art to be chosen for the West Harbour GO station on James St. North.
The submission by artist Laura Marotta was chosen from 34 submissions. She'll be awarded $70,000 for the design, fabrication and delivery of the art.
The winning submission is described this way by the city:
The striking work consists of 28 multi-shaped and brightly coloured fixed beads....
The artist intends that the colour and shape of the tubing will respond to the station plaza location: a grey tube which traces the city infrastructure; a blue tube that spirals around, giving form to the open air; and a green tube, that winds through the sculpture, evoking the maneuvering possibilities of a GO train within the urban landscape.
The jury report notes Marotta's colourful work speaks to "migration, mobility and connections between modes of transportation because the Bead Maze recalls the intersecting lines and movement of a regional transit system." Jurors also felt that the art work is relatable to people of all ages and highlights that Hamilton's North End is valued as a child and family-friendly neighbourhood.
Here's a link to a description and explanation (external link)of her submission.
Here's another look.

Image | bead maze

Caption: This is a 3-d artists rendering of the bead maze. (City of Hamilton)

Smoker? Don't want to be? Read on

Hamilton's public health service is looking for smokers who don't want to be smokers anymore. And it wants to help them along that road.
It will be offering free five-week nicotine replacement therapy sessions. You need to find out if you qualify. Here are the details:
Hamilton Public Health Services will be hosting two STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients) sessions. They will run on Friday, November 13, 2015 in the morning and afternoon in downtown Hamilton. The STOP Program provides five weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy, a practical support for alleviation of nicotine withdrawal symptoms, which has been shown to be effective to help people quit smoking. To see if you are eligible to participate and to register for a STOP session call the Tobacco Hotline at 905-540-5566 ext. 1. Space in these sessions is limited; please register early to avoid disappointment.
In addition to providing NRT, the STOP Program will offer educational material to encourage program participants to make broader changes that can improve their overall health.
Baseline questionnaires and follow-up surveys, spaced over six months post treatment will help the STOP Program researchers learn more about the long-term impact of providing nicotine replacement therapy and other smoking cessation aids free-of-charge to smokers across Ontario.

Image | smoking

Caption: Hamilton's Public Health unit is offering programs to help smokers quit. (Canadian Press)