Nicole Sullivan
Artist Greg Davies stands next to an installation he erected on Friday in memory of the homeless person who was found dead in a derelict building in Sydney. The building is now demolished. NICOLE SULLIVAN/CAPE BRETON POST
SYDNEY, N.S. — Twenty-five small paintings of passing clouds dance in the wind as cars drive by the empty lot on Dodd Street where the derelict old train station used to be.
Each one different, the paintings surround a sign that explains why the installation was erected Friday morning — to remember the person who died in the building that used to be there.
"The demolition has moved quickly yet there has been no recognition of the life lost there," said Greg Davies, who doesn't know the person who was found deceased in the abandoned building.
"There hasn't been any news coverage of this person or any memorial (put at the site) for this person who passed ... It just seemed like such a horrible place to live out the last minutes of your life and I wanted to do something to remind people a human life was lost there."
The sign which is in the middle of the 25 cloud paintings explaining why artist Greg Davies erected the installation at the spot where a homeless person was found dead the last week of October. NICOLE SULLIVAN/CAPE BRETON POST
The paintings, 25 for the 25 days which have passed since the person was found, are part of an ongoing series Davies started in 2018 as a way to find closure after his father's death the year before.
Since starting, Davies estimates he's painted more than 200 of the passing clouds and gives them out to people who might need to find their own closure for traumatic losses. The artist, who is curator of the Cape Breton University art gallery, said he's had people ask for the paintings and he knows some have made it to other countries like South Africa.
For the installation he erected on the fence surrounding the empty lot on Dodd Street, Davies hopes it reminds people of the human life lost there and the plight of homelessness in Sydney.
"If it achieves as much as having people stop and think about that person who died there, that they were a regular person who was someone's child, who had friends and people who loved them and now they are gone, I will be happy," Davies said.
"Also, if it inspired people to talk about the problem of homelessness and poverty in Cape Breton and even get them to make a donation to help people dealing (with these) then even better."
Each of the 25 cloud paintings are different and part of the 200 artist Greg Davies has painted since 2018. He started the series as a way to find closure after the death of his father the previous year. NICOLE SULLIVAN/CAPE BRETON POST
Christine Porter, executive director of the Ally Centre of Cape Breton, said for people dealing with housing insecurity, gestures like Davies' help them realize they aren't forgotten.
"I think, personally, that people dealing with homelessness deserve to know that people are thinking of them (like this art installation does). It gives them hope," Porter said.
"I think it's just a lovely thing he's done ... It's always great to see people thinking about that population."
Porter suggests people wanting to help Cape Breton's homeless population can make donations to community housing shelters or organizations like theirs, which is currently in need of non-perishable food items, hats and mittens.
She also said donations of gift cards from fast-food restaurants like Tim Horton's also help.
"It gives (homeless people) a chance to get out of the cold for a bit."
To find out more about donating to the Ally Centre, call 902-567-1766.
Nicole Sullivan is an education, enterprise and diversity reporter for the Cape Breton Post.
