The Municipality of Saint-Norbert, its residents, and artist Étienne Paquette are pleased to invite the public to discover SOLEILS, a permanent sculptural and digital artwork that unfolds around, inside, and across the façade of the village's former church, now known as the Espace culturel Jean-Pierre Ferland.
Saved from closure at the eleventh hour through community mobilization and a benefit concert, this storied site now takes on a new collective purpose at the heart of the village through this contemporary public artwork.
This bet on art as a tool for village renewal speaks to a broader story: the effort to safeguard the identity and heritage of regional communities — a cultural issue of real significance in Quebec and beyond. In Saint-Norbert, the gesture is both concrete and symbolic: turning a church that nearly disappeared into a living place, rooted in its collective memory and open to the future.
"SOLEILS was the result of sustained cultural and artistic development efforts, and of a collaboration that I think is fairly rare — between an artist and a municipal institution in a rural, agricultural setting. Saint-Norbert is the village where I grew up, and where I chose to come back to raise my children. Seeing my neighbors and fellow residents work to bring their heritage church back to life, I wanted to take part in that transformation in my own way," says artist Étienne Paquette.
Saint-Norbert Mayor Sonia Desjardins adds:
"With SOLEILS, we have far more than an art installation: we are giving voice to the soul of Saint-Norbert, through a place where memory meets the future, where heritage meets innovation, where daylight meets the more intimate light that lives within each of us. I am extremely proud of this project, which brings our community together and carries it forward."
An artistic gesture that transforms the purpose of a church, SOLEILS restores a collective function to the heart of the village.
Built around themes of inner life and the rituals that shape community living, SOLEILS offers an immersive experience where heritage, light, digital creation, and collective memory converge on the grounds of the Espace culturel Jean-Pierre-Ferland. Through four artistic zones, both outside and inside the former church, the work invites residents and visitors to explore the site, interact with the installations, and turn this space into a true gathering place for celebration and contemplation.
Outdoors, the components are accessible and visible year-round, through every season, and to passersby. On warm summer evenings or during the village's major collective moments — farmers' markets, concerts, and other activities — the work reveals itself fully: it becomes part of the village's public life, strengthening connections between people and fostering a setting conducive to community life.
SOLEILS: Four Artistic Interventions Bringing the Village to Life
SOLAR ORGAN: Tuning In to the Light
A new circular space on the grounds of the Espace culturel welcomes residents and visitors daily, offering a peaceful spot to rest along the pond’s edge. At its center stands the Solar Organ, a monumental interactive steel sculpture that produces gentle sounds by interpreting data related to temperature, UV rays, and luminosity. Rooted in the cycles of sunlight and an agricultural metaphor, the work reflects local history and reaches for the essence of the Norbert community. Interactive by design, it lets visitors take part in creating a soundscape conducive to contemplation. Around it, resting areas have been created using four benches (one wood, three stone) and two stone platforms.
MUSICAL ANEMOMETERS: Expressing in Harmony
Arranged in an arc within the former church’s main hall, the Musical Anemometers bring together six monumental musical instruments, crafted in wood and worked metal, activated by breath or by hand, composing an immersive, interactive soundscape. Following a set program, visitors play with voices and sounds drawn from two musical repertoires. One, inspired by the soundscape of a garden, is generative and lets visitors create their own meditative environment; the other reinterprets five well-known songs by Jean-Pierre Ferland, celebrating the community’s rich cultural heritage.
The Musical Anemometers are on permanent display in the former church, and also travel to various cultural venues across Quebec.
IRIS PORTAL: Seeing the World Through the Village’s Children’s Eyes
Installed at the entrance to the site, the Iris Portal is a monumental Corten steel sculpture created from photographs of the eyes of 105 students at the village’s elementary school. Created following a community engagement day with the children in the spring of 2024, the two-panel work becomes a symbol of welcome and of passing the torch between generations.
NARRATIVE FACADE: Celebrating Memory and Collective Life
Each evening at sunset, the Narrative Facade brings the church to life through the activation of the bell tower and the illumination of the façade. Like an age-old ritual, the audiovisual and sculptural composition marks the rhythm of daily village life. Programmable hammers were added to the bell tower — while preserving the original manual mechanism — through a collaboration with one of Quebec’s few campanologists (bell specialists).
Sculptures inspired by the musical worlds of Jean-Pierre Ferland and Angèle Dubeau also adorn the façade, paying tribute to Saint-Norbert’s popular and classical musical heritage.
A Major Collaboration
The fruit of five years of conception, development, and creation, SOLEILS brought together — alongside creator Étienne Paquette — a dozen collaborators from a wide range of disciplines, from digital lutherie to ornamental ironwork, woodworking, campanology, and interactive programming. The project also brought together regional artists and craftspeople who had previously known little of each other’s work, opening the door to new artistic collaborations.
Through its strong focus on cultural mediation and citizen participation, SOLEILS also helped bring a rural community closer to contemporary technological art, and introduced an entire generation of village children to digital creation.
Discovering SOLEILS
The outdoor components of SOLEILS remain accessible at all times, around the Espace culturel Jean-Pierre Ferland, at 2111 Rue Principale in Saint-Norbert. Only the Solar Organ is paused during the winter.
The public can access the indoor component of the work, the Musical Anemometers, during free, open visits on summer Friday mornings, as well as during events held at the Espace culturel Jean-Pierre-Ferland, including the Saint-Norbert Farmers’ Markets.
Partners
SOLEILS was made possible thanks to the unwavering support of the Municipality of Saint-Norbert and its elected officials, as well as the trust and generosity of major financial partners: the Government of Quebec, the Government of Canada, the MRC de D’Autray, and Caisse Desjardins.
