Partner John Carolan
Queer Places:
Mount Pleasant Cemetery
Toronto, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada
Robert Delford "Del" Newbigging (September 29, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was a Canadian artist, visual arts teacher, children's author, whose bronze-fashioned works have been showcased in art galleries across Europe and North America.[1] Newbigging is best known for facilitating the project concept, development and creation of Toronto's Alexander Wood statue.[2] The 244-centimetre-tall (8 ft) bronze sculpture was installed at the corner of Church and Alexander Streets in Church and Wellesley, the gay village of Toronto. It was the first LGBT monument in Canada. The statue was removed and destroyed by the CWVBIA on April 4, 2022, amid renewed focus on Wood's ties to a group that raised funds for a mission school that later became the Shingwauk Indian Residential School.
Popularly known by the nickname Del Newbigging, the Listowel, Ontario native was author and illustrator of Robert Rat Has A Problem, a children's book teaching the significance of agreeing to disagree and the importance of nutrition.[3]
On July 16, 2000,[4] Newbigging co-founded the Medallic Art Society of Canada (MASC),[5] an organization "dedicated to the creation, promotion, appreciation and education of the fine art of the medal."[6]
Of his body of works, Newbigging's most notable contribution is his monumental statue of the late Alexander Wood,[7] a merchant and magistrate in the city of York (now Toronto).[8] Set in the Church-Wellesley neighborhood, the bronze sculpture of Alexander Wood is posted at the Church Street and Alexander Street intersection. It was officially unveiled on Saturday May 28, 2005.[9] "It’s a symbol for any minority community that has struggled and fought to be accepted for their place and home in our city," said Dennis O’Connor, the former Church-Wellesley BIA chair, at the unveiling ceremony.[8] Newbigging's statue of Wood came after a two year process of development.[1] The two-and-a-half-metre-tall bronze figure was formed almost entirely from that which Newbigging visualized Wood's physical appearance to be, with his prime reference said to have been a mere a silhouette of Wood.[10][2] "Del Newbigging’s legacy in Toronto’s gay community is literally set not in stone, but rather in a cast of bronze," Toronto City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam told the press. "His meticulous planning and confident execution of Canada’s only monument to a gay pioneer will forever stand proudly over the Church and Wellesley Village. We have Del to thank for this superb contribution to the community."[11]
Newbigging used reproductions of Georgian era silhouette portraits of Wood as reference for the statue's likeness, but took creative liberties to make Wood "handsome, because the people in this community will appreciate that" and added what he described as "a gay flair which I am convinced he would have had".[3] The artist modelled Wood's clothing on fashions typical of a dandy, citing the bow tie, ponytail, and flower lapel visible in these portraits. A red rose was included in the statue's lapel as a tribute to Pierre Trudeau, whose government decriminalized homosexuality in Canada in 1969.[4] Newbigging modelled the buttocks off of that of his husband John Carolan; Daily Xtra noted in 2012 that touching the bronze buttocks had "become somewhat of a lucky charm for passersby," and that wear from frequent rubbing of the buttocks by pedestrians had left their formerly green patina "smooth and bright".[4]
My published books:
