Hillary Clark Cole

Exhibit “IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK”



Huronia Regional Centre, located in Orillia, Ontario Canada was an institution established in 1876 for children and adults with disabilities, and children as Crown wards. Over the years the institution became grossly overcrowded and understaffed, the buildings became dilapidated, and often the residents experienced a life of systematic physical, sexual and emotional abuse. There was no one to protect and advocate for them…no one thought it necessary.



It was not until 2009 that Huronia Regional Centre was closed. A class action law suit was launched by Survivors and their litigation guardians against the Province of Ontario and a $35 million dollar settlement was awarded from which funds were made available to create a memorial.



In 2018, Hilary Clark Cole, a Canadian professional sculptor in welded steel, was commissioned by Survivors who have formed a group called “Remember Every Name” to create a memorial as a testament to those who were buried there and to those who survived living at Huronia Regional Centre. The artist’s preparation involved several meetings with the Survivors for their input for the concept. She subsequently created a ‘maquette’, a small version of the monument, which was approved by the group.



In collaboration with Steve Sanderson of Signature Memorials, two eleven-foot-tall black granite walls, engraved with powerful words from Survivors, were erected. A Corten Steel welded tree, representing Survivors struggling to live, reaches through a gap high on these imposing walls and emerges on the other side, bursting into life and freedom.



Crows take flight from the new leafy branches. Crows are significant to the Survivors; these wise birds would land outside on the windowsills of the institution... they felt that the crows were the only ones who knew what was really happening inside, as witnesses to their pain and suffering. Titled “If These Walls Could Talk”, the memorial was unveiled and dedicated in August of 2019.