Signs. They are everywhere. You may have noticed a few more around Salt Spring recently.

Artist Patrick McCallum's public art installation, which is on display as part of the Spring Art show now on at Mahon Hall themed and titled re:location involved McCallum placing several signs around the island with short messages like “They tried their best” and “Your choices”.

The signs have caused a stir for local residents with critical comments on social media like “Road workers seem pretty annoyed taking these down all week! Would really be best to not make them look like street legal signs” and “At $400 a pop! Gimme a break! Art should at least be recognized as art, not some incomprehensible joke on the community. Of course public art is vital, sticking up a few daft signs affords the community absolutely nothing. It is precisely this kind of stunt that turns so many away from “art”.

However the vast majority of comments were quite positive with comments like “i love that at the art talk you also said this piece was inspired by your mom. so glad it found a good home.” and “Awesome installation! Best I have seen in years” and “I love your signs!! So glad we can still see them. Maybe a new one could read - don't be deterred by jerks!”

McCallum recently took to social media to explain his intention. While reflecting on the sign “She tries her best” MaCallum explains the sign “Offers you the opportunity to reflect on people in your life, women perhaps who have tried their best despite all their circumstances. Maybe they have succeeded, maybe the haven’t but above all else they tried their best. This is an opportunity to reflect on those people, to honour those people and to love those people. I hope you enjoy it."

Many of the signs have now been taken down but people are still talking about it, which is perhaps making the point of what many people believe art is ... something that provokes a feeling.

If you have time and are interested in seeing more, head on down to Mahon Hall to check it out. The exhibition's curator, Annika Hagen Siemsen says "The theme and title of the 2024 Spring Art Show is re:location, heralding the expansion of our artist community in recent years. In shaping ‘re:location’ I have brought together 18 multidisciplinary artists from various stages in their careers, many who have recently moved to the island, and have asked each one to delve into their personal stories of adapting to life on the Gulf Islands. This exhibition leans to the contemporary and steps away from conventional depictions of “island beauty,” aiming to uncover conceptual studies of identity, the dichotomy of isolation and community, and the impacts of displacement. Through a rich mix of media, ‘re:location’ confronts and connects complexities in our collective experience."