Rebecca Belmore

A 30-foot sculptural tree for the National Arts Centre, referencing shipbuilding history and colonial timber extraction — crafted from laminated spruce and pine, CNC-shaped, and hand-finished to appear seamless and sun-bleached.

Daly Co. was privileged to collaborate with renowned artist Rebecca Belmore on her public artwork Dawn — the first new piece commissioned as part of the National Arts Centre’s expansion in Ottawa.

At the start of the project, Rebecca shared a small maquette that embodied the concept of her work. We were invited to help develop the “wood tree” component — a 30-foot sculptural form that would appear as though it had been pulled directly from nature and stood up in the space.

The wood form is a reference to shipbuilding, and how timber from this region was once extracted at massive scale to fuel European expansion. Eastern White Pine was commonly used for ship masts and other components. That history is embedded in the sculpture’s narrative — a reminder of what was taken, and what now stands in its place.

Because a real tree couldn’t be used, we were tasked with recreating its presence in a form that could be fabricated off-site and shipped in parts for on-site assembly. The structure carried a symbolic, coast-to-coast message, inspired by the great pines of the St. Lawrence. We laminated Sitka Spruce (West Coast) and Eastern White Pine (East Coast) to form the outer shell.

Achieving a seamless appearance required a high degree of precision. Working with James Spouler and Hone Workshop, we developed a production method that translated the 3D form into components carved on a 5-axis CNC. The machine provided a precision fit and rough shape, while the final detailing was completed by hand — carving branches and texturing the surface to highlight the grain and give the piece its aged character.

Daly Co. also led the development of the structural drawing set in collaboration with Aspect Engineers. This included the internal steel substructure needed to support the vertical pole and the integrated armature designed to suspend over 1,000 hand-formed copper cones. Upon final installation in Ottawa, each wood segment was mounted to the steel substructure and carefully blended to hide seams. We applied a custom layered coating to give the tree its silvery, sun-bleached appearance.

Hear Rebecca speak more about the work here