Art or eyesore? Bridgewater's battle over a piece of the Farley Mowat

A rusting piece of the Farley Mowat, an abandoned ship that languished for years in Shelburne's harbour, has been given a second chance as public art on a front lawn in Bridgewater.

But the town, like its neighbour further south, just wants the derelict vessel gone. It says the bow of the ship is dangerous and unsightly and it has ordered that it be removed. 

Brian MacNevin, the artist who put it there, is fighting to keep it. 

"Now you have to understand this is well off the street, well onto our property," MacNevin told CBC's Information Morning. "I didn't put that piece out there to create a controversy in terms of, 'What's that piece of junk doing there?'"

Rather, MacNevin said the sculpture is an ode to the controversial Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which once used the vessel in its anti-sealing efforts. He said it's also a nod to author Farley Mowat, who wrote many of his books in Nova Scotia. 

Bridgewater's mayor doesn't see the connection.

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"Those two things have to be separated," said David Mitchell. "Farley Mowat as an author has a different historical significance in Canada than Farley Mowat the boat. And if we look at the history of the Farley Mowat as a vessel, it's not good."

Mitchell pointed to the tens of thousands of dollars in berthing fees the ship racked up during its time in Shelburne, and elsewhere. A judge eventually ordered that former owner Tracy Dodds pay the town $144,000.

Plus, he said the boat was never in Bridgewater so he's not sure why it needs to be remembered there.

MacNevin, the founder of an arts organization called International Current Art Research & Development Institute, has hired a lawyer who will make his case at a town council meeting Tuesday night. 

He's been working on the sculpture for years, and said he spent a total of $900 on the bow, which includes the nameplate. 

MacNevin said he hasn't had a single complaint from his neighbours. In fact, he said most people who stop by to look at it seem intrigued.

Mitchell, meanwhile, has been hearing a different story. He said several people have called or shown up to town hall to register their displeasure.

Making a statement

It's hard to miss the sculpture in front of MacNevin's house on the corner of King Street and Jubilee Road. The rusting bow is pierced in the centre with a giant railroad spike.

But he insists it's not meant to be beautiful, just like a similar structure in Lunenburg — a piece of the Berlin wall that stands right beside the Lunenburg Foundry.

Neither are particularly pleasant to look at but both have a purpose — "it's the memories that it contains and what it points to," said MacNevin.

If he loses his appeal to keep the sculpture, he said he still has options, including sending it to a former Sea Shepherd member in France who's interested.

"But that would be, like, unfortunate for me," he said, "because I really think the Farley Mowat ship, it ended its life on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and Farley Mowat, the writer, wrote his books in Nova Scotia. It's part of our heritage here."