• With a Legacy Fund grant and benches donated by the Town, The Stouffville Chamber of Commerce called on local artists to submit public art proposals meant to celebrate Stouffville’s ethnic diversity.
  • Four artists from York Region were selected to transform a park bench for placement along Main Street.
  • Christie Shen’s bench at 6240 Main presents overlapping sound waves of the phrase “we belong here,” spoken in languages such as Ojibway, Urdu, Cantonese, and Tagalog.
  • “The waves flow in layers, like a ripple effect that continuously expands outward,” Shen said of her work. “Much like languages and people, Stouffville will continue to develop new layers and evolve, always moving forward.”
  • Marianne Botros dedicated her bench at 6252 Main Street to Stouffville’s Egyptian population.
  • Derived from the ancient Egyptian concept of the afterlife, “the bench is designed to welcome the elders (past) who built the old town, be ready for youth (present), and expand for upcoming generations (future),” Botros says.
  • “The bench invites moments of pondering, conversation, reflection and rest,” Sophia Yeh-Chau and Samuel Peter said of their benches in the Main Street Gazebo.
  • “We hope to tie into the current ever-growing community of Stouffville, which is diverse in culture, food, traditions and languages,” they added.
  • “We were inspired by the fantastic submissions we received,” said Karen Wootton, The Stouffville Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. “The finished products add beautiful splashes of colour and artistic flare to the Village.”