At the corner of Queen Street East and Victoria Street sits a sculpture by artist Peter von Tiesenhausen. Entitled The Watchers, the sculpture was established in 2002 and is made from cast iron and granite.

The iron figures in The Watchers are direct casts of five wood originals which were carved and blackened in a fire on the Canadian prairies. From there began a journey that took them 35,000 kilometres through every province and around every territory. From Newfoundland they navigated the Northwest Passage to Tuktoyaktuk. Down the Arctic ice road, through the mountains of the Yukon and the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia, The Watchers returned to the prairies five years later. Having nearly traced the geographical boundaries of Canada, they had come full circle.

If you’d like to read more about their story, click here.